The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Nick Wright on Damar Hamlin Aftermath, Harbaugh NFL Future, KD/Kyrie Sustainability

Episode Date: January 5, 2023

First, (3:00) Colin explains if criticism of the NFL’s handling of the Damar Hamlin situation is justified, and if USC’s ugly bowl loss to Tulane is an indictment of Lincoln Riley.  Then, First Things First co-host - and host of the What's Wright? podcast - Nick Wright joins Colin to discuss the criticism of the NFL for its handling of the  Damar Hamlin situation (8:00), if Jim Harbaugh should leave Michigan for the NFL (23:00), if KD and Kyrie are destined to crash and burn in the playoffs despite their recent turnaround (29:00), if the Titans are a realistic landing spot for Aaron Rodgers (45:00), and if Brock Purdy could be the long-term QB answer for the Niners (54:00). Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates, check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action, and visit Cuts for the latest Fall fits! #Herd #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Just use the promo code Colin and download the Fandul app today. Well, hi, everybody. I'm your affable host, Colin Cowherd. Nick Wright in 10 minutes. We haven't had Nicky on for seven, eight weeks. It'll be a blast today. Good 30, 40 minutes with Nick Wright. Oh, is enjoyable.

So I thought I would open today with some thoughts on a very frightening scene with Damar Hamlin, Monday night and Cincinnati. Cincinnati. There's been a lot of criticism by the media of the NFL of not canceling the game immediately. And, you know, one of the things that I've learned running the volume, and the volume we're up to about 30 employees, is that our rule at the volume is, let's just get it right. whatever process it takes, let's just get it right. Communication in this world. Some of us are in Delaware.

Some of us are in Sarasota, Florida. I'm in Los Angeles. People are all over the country, different time zones. My staff often is doing this at one in the morning. Why it's only 9.30, 10 for me. And I try to think about that. Let's just get it right. But it's not easy, right?

Communication's not easy. And I'm dealing with young people, good communicators. very verbal, good with tech. So when Monday night happened, a lot of people weren't happy with a timeline, a lot of media people very critical of the NFL. And if you're an actor, they say the greatest challenge is doing Broadway.

Why? Because it's live. TV, films are edited. I always find that broadcasting is much harder than this, podcasting. Why? Because it's live. Business is harder. when it's live. I have known in my life 25 people who have worked for professional sports franchises.

An NFL game live game day is a massive, massive undertaking. The NFL had the protocols in place that first responders were on the scene and quite possibly saved Damar Hamlin's life. That's the win. the NFL called the game. That's the win. I don't want to get too precious on, well, you know, the coaches, the coaches are the ones who actually told the officials who told the league, well, that's okay. Let's say it was a natural disaster. The governor of the state can watch on television, but the governor calls the mayor. The mayor calls the National Guard.

The National Guard leader talks to the people on the ground. they're seeing real emotions, real fear from people in a flood or an earthquake. They're managing from the ground up. We do that a lot at the volume. I manage from my employees up. They tell me what they're capable of doing. That's what the NFL did. They leaned on their coaches who were next to the players, listening to the players cry, watching them sob.

And the coaches said, we can't play this game. And the NFL said, in New York, okay, we're canceling the game. The people writing columns ripping the NFL. You get three or four chances at a column. You can have lunch during the column, stop writing, have a tuna sandwich, and start again. You have a copy editor. What if your column was live and you got one shot at it? That's why writing on deadline.

You're a baseball writer. Game ends goes 12 innings. You have to write. You have one shot is harder. is that I think sometimes we have to realize in the media. This stuff's hard. That instead of being upset in the process on how decisions were made, we're thankful that the NFL's got great EMTs, great first responders,

very compassionate coaches and players, and that eventually they got Monday night right and hopefully saved DeMarne Hamlin's life. Live anything is difficult. Think about the NFL business. A big chunk of it is performed. not only live, but televised. I mean, just putting a camera on a reality show usually ends up people getting a divorce.

Just putting a camera on couples. How many times do you see those couples in a reality show eventually? They're separating. It adds stress, live, cameras, go, urgency. I look at that as possibly saving a wonderful young person's life. I'm just not going to nitpick the process. It's very possible. The NFL, you know, they're not watching the CPR.

There's a big difference between a player going into an ambulance or on a stretcher and seeing CPR live. Even first responders who've gone through it hundreds of times say that's traumatic. It's intense. You're saving somebody's life. Players seeing that most for the very first time. So, listen, the NFL does things I don't agree. with. I don't like a 17th game. I don't like the preseason. There's an argument against Thursday night football. Those are valid arguments. I've never liked the 17th game. You can't tell

me safety matters and then want your guys to deal with 60 more punishing punitive hits. You don't need the money. So why are you doing it? It's greed. It's billionaire greed. That's it. But in this instance, I think there's a chance we saved a person's life. That's what I take from what happened Monday night. So when Lincoln Riley took the job at USC, Oklahoma fans made a lot of jokes about USC's defense would be going down the tubes. Well, it couldn't get worse than what he inherited. But Alex Grinch is under a firestorm of criticism for losing a huge lead in the last three to four minutes of that game against Tulane and losing.

All coaches have blind spots. and perhaps Lincoln Riley's blind spot is his loyalty to his friend defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. In Lincoln Riley's four bowl losses, he surrendered an average of 52 points. But it's also important, even in the transfer portal, to acknowledge what Lincoln Riley inherited.

A four-win team with one legitimate NFL player, a second-round defense event. I was told this by some close to the program that when Lincoln Riley got there, they had about a dozen linebackers. A dozen. This is USC. The late junior Seow played there.

Clay Matthews played there. West Coast linebacker U for decades. They had 12 linebackers in the program. None were NFL linebackers. Lincoln Riley was shocked by the lack of linebacker talent. The offensive line had 13 or 14 offensive linemen on scholarship. One, Andrew Voorhees, a guard, was viewed as being able to play this year and eventually be draftable. So between linebacker and offensive line, large, important units, there were roughly 25 athletes, one pro and one potential pro.

That's what they inherited. And the transfer portal, yes, USC got Jordan Addison and Caleb Williams from it. But most players that enter the portal are not playing enough for their liking. That's why they enter the portal. They're not starting or they're being phased out or they're being replaced at their program. So you can improve your team through the transfer portal, especially if you get a great quarterback or a star receiver. But I would say a majority, 90% of players that enter the transfer portal are not worth half a point in a college football game.

We have to be realistic. What Lincoln Riley inherited was a mess. They didn't believe, they didn't say it publicly. But a third of the players on this team last year were not really packed 12 football players. They weren't packed 12 football players. Maybe at the 11th and 12th programs, but they were Division 1 players, but they weren't viewed as people who should be anywhere near a top 10, 15 program. Lincoln Riley inherited a mess.

he solved the offense in one off season. My guess it'll take him an entire second off season to at least solve most of the defensive issues. The defense will be better next year. Let's get to Nick Wright. All right, my buddy, Nick Wright, we haven't talked to Nick in a couple of months. He's really busy.

First things first is a smash hit. It's crushing. You know, it's funny, Nick. Thank you, buddy. You know, the show's so successful. I've really nicely decorated my house with all these, you know, we get ratings bonuses. Yeah, I mean, just wealth, just hitting me in the face. But your producers won't let me show it off.

They said, I have to turn off all the lights. They said, you're shaming Colin Coward. Colin's doing this from a closet and, you know, somewhere in, I assume, the upper valley in Los Angeles. And I've got this palatial estate. I can't show it off. That's fine. Maybe at the end of the pod, I'll get up and turn all the lights on so people can see what a beautiful scene I have. behind me but go ahead sorry the um you know i was i was thinking about this because we don't get you

much anymore and i do want to touch on the damar hamlin situation um we're all praying for the young kid i mean he's got a huge life ahead of him he's a wonderful guy you can see the outpouring of affection for him right but i i'm in the media sometimes but i feel like i'm not of the media they always say that about austin texas it's in texas it's not of texas uh that's i've never heard that but that. Yeah, I'm in Park City, Utah. It's not of Utah. We drink there and party. Okay. So the reason podcasting is easier than broadcasting is because it's not live. And the reason Broadway is harder than a film is because it is live. Yep. And the NFL business is not only live, it's televised. And I'm not going to pick it apart for how they can't.

the game. They had first responders that saved his life. I, listen, you and I don't have the exact same politics. We have similar politics on a lot of things.

And then on certain things, I'm basically left of linen. And so you're, you know, on those things, we diverge a bit. But, uh, that

the, and I don't know if this political or not, but it strikes me as a little political. The idea that the NFL, by definition, must be the boogeyman here. So there is the logistics of what happened. So I was actually listening to a great radio show in Kansas City. It's on a rock radio station, but the friends of mine have done it for 20 years called the Church of Laslo. And they've put on a lot of concerts. And they've put on a lot of concerts. And they were talking about this. And what Lazlo, the host of it said, he was like, because he also thought the NFL being

criticized for not instantly saying game off. He was like, does nobody realize there's 70,000 people there? And that there is someone that has to make sure, hey, how we, all of these people don't know the exact circumstance on the field. They're not watching the broadcast. You know what I mean? A lot of people, the internet doesn't work great in stadiums. know a player is hurt.

And if all of a sudden it is just announced, game canceled, don't you think they have a little concern of? Wait, are people going to get out of here safely? Are people, right? So even if they had measures ready for that, there's a lot of layers it has to go through. And the idea that, and I, listen, you know Joe Buck really well. I know him a little bit. I am not doubting that Joe Buck was told, hey, the players have been, you know, it's five,

minutes. But to me, unless you are trying to find a reason to say, bleep you NFL, the reason the the five minutes thing happened is it is written somewhere on a piece of paper that. That's right. If there is a some type of on-field incident and the delay is so long, you are allowed to have five minutes to get back warm. And so when someone's like, so what do we do here? Somebody said, Well, I guess they can have five minutes, but that was never going to be five minutes. And it was never going to be played again. And I think smart people knew that, but they like to blame someone. So now that's what I think happened.

Now here's my maybe two deep thoughts on it. Because we saw people get mad at the NFL. We saw people get mad at tweets. We saw people get mad. In tragedy, people search for a villain. when often there isn't one. Often it's just shit. That was awful.

And I hate that it happened. Furthermore, I think lashing out at people prevents people from having to do the moments of introspection of, all right. So if this is no one's fault and this is just

the potential cost of football, Yeah. Oh, boy. What does that say about me who bases my entire weekend around football? What does that say about me? That's a hard. That's like a hard moral question. Am I morally complicit in that? That's like a, you know, we need a philosopher to talk us through it. You know what's easier? These fucking guys don't care about the players. Give me a break. Like, give me a break. And I'm not acting. like the NFL is, has always put player safety first. They clearly haven't. And I'm not an apologist for the league.

But I'm going to say one other thing. I don't even know if they can cancel the game immediately without talking to the players union first. I think there has to be a lot of phone calls that happen. Right. Or something like that can be done. So I wasn't looking for a villain here. I just and and it is a, people rallied in the end and have done an amazing thing in the go

fund me. But I wish it was more natural instead of searching for a villain. It would have been just as easy to say, oh my God, what a remarkable job by the people who recognized in seconds, his heart stopped, knew what to do, unscrewed the face mask, Zapp, gave him the defibrillation, CPR, all of it. And if you did want to be an NFL apologist, you know what you'd say, hey, they have like, They evidently have a protocol in place for what to do if a player's heart stops, even though in my entire life watching football, they've never had to use it. And it was executed perfectly. Like, I don't know. So I don't know if that's the right answer.

But that's, you and I agree on this one. Yeah. No, I think I even, I try to personalize stories and say, what would I have done? or since I started the volume, we're up to about 30 employees. And one of our rules is, let's just get it right. Whatever the process is, let's just get it right. And so we don't get too precious on the process. As you know, I've been doing this for 30 years.

What we do is small compared to like pro football. But over the course of sometimes, you know, you do things in your marriage on your show with your kids and parenting. and you come to conclusions in crisis, an argument, a school issue, how can I just get this right? Right? Yeah. How can I morally get it right? How can I get the decision right? It's things are sloppy, you know?

Things are, listen, man, when I watched, there's a lot I didn't know about childbirth, and then I watched it live. I was like, I really like the final result. Yeah. There's a lot of stuff there I can do without. Can I just come in after? Yeah. It's delivered next time.

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So, all right, I want to talk. talk to you about there's two coaches in football that I think bother the media. But Jesus, they're good. Brian Kelly has won everywhere instantly. He had a terrible incident at Notre Dame. A young man died. He is gruff. He turns purple when he's screaming at players.

Right. And Jim Harbour. He does a really, really crummy Cajun accent out of nowhere. Yeah. Those are in the cons column. But go ahead. Yeah. and Jim Harbaugh.

And because Jim Harbaugh, I think, is on the spectrum and he's awkward and he doesn't really need the media. I think I get along with people. I struggle with him. People don't understand. Harbaugh went 44, 19, and 1 in a division with arguably the most talented team in football in 20 years, the Seahawks. The Seahawks. And he took over a team that had won six games and went to three straight NFC championship games. With Alex Smith and Kath as the quarterback.

and Cap had a nice moment, but Cap wasn't a blue chipper. Alex Smith was considered a bust and immediately contended for championships and contended at Stanford and turned Michigan into a contender. So I thought about this. You know, when we do a show, I have opinions, but sometimes I'll sleep on it, is that in college, the NIL has actually helped coaches because it used to be you were felt guilty for making money because players weren't. Now a quarterback at USC can make $5 million.

Nobody talks about coaches' salaries. But a lot of these situations, at Michigan, you do feel like your salaries published. You're the highest paid state employee at $8 million. Or you go to the NFL, make $18 and nobody cares. Now, you get fired sooner, but nobody cares. Is that I think to myself, I wouldn't leave Michigan. But I do wonder now, once the players get paid, the downside, because I'm for the players getting paid, but the downside is, well, shit.

If I'm going to have my players paid and they're going to transfer at any time, I'd rather just be a pro coach and make twice the money and not deal with the NCAA. We're going to lose a lot of these great coaches. And not have to deal with, is he academically eligible? I would, listen, I think some people love recruiting. I think I would hate it. I think the grind of the travel. Plus, there has to be an element of.

And I don't want to sound like an old man. And again, some coaches love it. And maybe that's why they're coaches because they love that thing. But of like trying to convince a 17-year-old to, you know, date you essentially, that seems, again, I don't think I'd love it. I don't think he'd be like, what are you doing? I'm like, well, I got to fly to Baton Rouge because this 17-year-old kid that I thought was going to come play for me. Now I think he's going to go play for Texas. so I have to explain I have to win over him, his mom and his dad.

Like that. So I would far prefer pro coaching where you're dealing with grownups. You only have to worry about the football part. And you don't have to convince 20, 25 new guys every single year to come play for you. What is interesting to me is it does seem like the money in certain instances, college. I mean, you tell me if I'm wrong, Colin. In certain instance, it seemed like the money's bigger in college football. So like, did Mel Tucker, who's what?

Not one of the 15 best coaches, got $90 million? Like, no, there's very few NFL coaches have that. So I think for certain guys, college is a better deal. Harbaugh, here's the thing I want to say about Harbaugh, because I think Harbaugh is a great coach, a great coach. And I made the point on your show five years ago when I was filling in for you that I made it again the other day, that he has an argument that if the question is, I need someone to coach my football team, but I won't tell you if it's college or pro,

he should be the number one draft back. Because you can say, well, I'll take Belichick. Well, what if he's, it's Alabama? Like, well, you know what I mean? Okay, no, no, no, no. I'll take Sabin. Well, what if it's the Jets? Like Harbaugh has proof of concept at both levels, instantly good.

So I think he's a great coach. The one thing I think the media is getting wrong with the hardball story is this. They're like, oh, the new owners of the Broncos, they're the Walton family. They've got $70 billion. When it comes to coach salaries, the difference between 70 billion net worth and 7 billion net worth is irrelevant. We need to coach salaries. It's like, oh, they can pay them $20 million a year. So can 80% of the owners.

Like, as long as you've got more than a billion, you can pay the coach anything. So the idea that the Broncos have this leg up because their owners are so rich, I think people have it wrong. I don't think it's the three richest NFL owners have an advantage. I think it's the four NFL owners that don't have real money are at a huge disadvantage. So whether I think those teams are at a real disadvantage. But I think I think every I think 80% of the teams could hire a $20 million a year coach on a four year deal, fire him and do that five consecutive cycles and have 400 million of dead coach money. And it doesn't affect their bottom line at all because they are multi or deca billionaires.

I just think there's a few teams, whether it's the Cardinals, the Raiders, whomever, where it's like, oh man, do they have to keep. this coach because they can't afford to pay the buyout. A couple NBA topics. So I try to watch half an NBA game every night in the treadmill. I love it. That's my goal. So I get on the treadmill and I watch half an NBA game, usually like an East Coast game. So I watch Brooklyn and they're playing really well.

Really well. And this is where I tend to be in my career. I do football heavy. Super Bowl ends. I go skiing or I go to Mexico, come back, and then I'm totally into the NBA. NFL draft, NFL free agency, but I'm an NBA fan.

And I kind of block it off. I do Labor Day to February 10th is NFL. See, it's so funny. I'm just real quick before you get your question, I know people kind of perceive me as an NBA guy because I'm like the LeBron guy, but I'm the exact same one. So I might watch a little bit more

because of the coast I'm on. And I have net season tickets. So I go to some games and do that. But as far as the media I consume, I listen to a lot of podcasts. Yeah. I don't listen to any NBA podcast right now. I'm not reading it.

Like, I am, it's to me this is, football season is football season with a few big time NBA games mixed in. And then the moment I get back from vacation, it is nothing but hoops for the next. four months and then go on another vacation and then we're in the NFL again. And this is just like the cycle that I'm, but go ahead.

But go ahead. So one of the reasons I don't, I think there are a lot of people in our profession, especially NBA people, that they watch this early season stuff. And I always kind of think, time out. I mean, last two nights ago, the Celtics gave up 150 points to the Thunder. Thunder. Without their best player, without SGA. Yeah.

So it's not even. Some teams are rested. Some are exhausted. Who'd you play the night before? It's like the San Francisco 49ers. Everybody that plays them the next week. That's unbelievable. 014.

Or 214. So in the NBA, if you play, you know, if you play the Celtics the night before and they're arm wrestling you and playing defense, the next night, you're probably not going to play well after. So I watched the Brooklyn Nets, and here's my takeaway on them. They're the Phoenix Sun, Steve Nash team. They are totally built for the regular season. You come in, light rest. The guys come in after shoot around. They get 30 minutes of film putting their shoes on.

They watch them. And then you've got to face Kyrie and Durant and Simmons. It's a hard matchup. You put them in a series and I can go at Kyrie six times defensively where he won't play. I can put Simmons on the foul line in any big spot that Brooklyn is tough with little prep. infinitely beatable with equal rest. I agree with that. I agree with that.

I think that's a smart take. But they also, I will give them credit. Listen, since Kyrie came back, they're 18 and three. They lost one game in December. Here are, I got three potential issues with Brooklyn. The first one is, Kyrie's, you know, you ever been to like a construction site and they have that little thing that the days without

an incident and every day it ticks up it's like 46, 47. We are approaching the most Kyrie days without an incident we've had in about six years, which means that some bitch might be going back to zero any moment now. Like there's a chance. That thing is getting reset. So everyone's

like, oh, Kyrie's on his best behavior. I'm like, yeah, I mean, it's been six weeks and that's good, but I'm not booking that as the norm. Okay, that's the first thing. Yeah. Second thing is this. And this is a good thing and a bad thing for them. Durant is playing some, from an offensive perspective.

Yeah. Some of the best basketball and league history right now. So I put a thing on the TV show yesterday where MBA.com will break the court down into zones, like not just quadrants, but like there's like 18 of them as far as where you take your shots from, right? And red, if the color beneath you is red, it means you're below average. If it's the color of the court, it means you are average. and if it's green, it means you're above average. On those 18 zones,

Kevin Durant had 15 green, two beige, and one red. The one that was red, he has taken two shots from that area. I think he'll probably make the next one, it'll turn beige or green. And another one, he'd only taken five shots. So he is from every scoring zone on the court, well above average, every single one.

And I was like, wait, is this true for all the great players? Nope, I look. Steph, it's like half of them. He has his spots. LeBron, it's like a third of him, but he's killing you at the rim. Luc, it's the, you know, Durant is great everywhere. And he is taking tough shots. So the good thing is he's an amazing player.

The bad thing is they need him to continue a level of offensive efficiency that would make prime Jordan blush as far as what he's doing in the mid range and all of that. And the last thing is what you said, which is they, the Ben Simmons in the playoffs part of this, no one is talking about and no one is thinking about, but it is a major concern. I want to say one other NBA thing to you because Janus in his last seven is averaging 40. And the other night at 55. And the bucks are a game out of first place. Yeah. So here is why.

In my opinion, Janice and Luca have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt. They are the two best players in the league. Janus won Luca, too. Every other great player in this league, either this year and the last few years, if their second best guy isn't there, the team struggles to win half its games. LeBron lost AD. Team can't win half its games. Steph a couple years ago didn't have Clay.

They missed the playoffs. Yokic last year didn't have Jamal Murray. They're the 60th. Durant this year, Kyrie was going when he was gone on a sabbatical. There's whatever you want to call it. They're dead in the water. Luca last year didn't have a second best player, whole second half of the season playoff run.

It's like, okay, I'll just take us to the conference finals. Janice hasn't had Middleton all year. She's played seven games. Seven games he played. He didn't play well because he still hurt. And they're a game out of first. is those two guys are at a different level. Our teams can be contenders even without our second best guy.

And if you give me our second best guy, we'll probably win the whole damn thing. Everyone else, no matter how great they are, and I threw LeBron in there too, because he's still unbelievable, they need their full cast of characters, not to win any games, but to content. The Bucks can contend based on the power of Yannis alone. And I think the Mabs are showing they can do that with Luca too. Very good. What do you make?

A year? Less than you, buddy. It's really. No. What do you make of the offensive explosion in the last two weeks? I contend, I would say, every season has what they call the dog days. and I think after Christmas, there's a three-week lull when you're still experimenting with some defensive rotations. You're not near the trading deadlines.

You're not showing off people yet. You're giving certain players rest. And so we're in the dog days are not the end of the regular season because seating really matters. It's not right up to the trading deadline because you're trying to show off certain people to move them. These are actually, even though the season only starts in October, the dog days are like the day after Christmas until like January 5th, the 10th, and that nobody's playing defense right now. Okay. So I listen, I think that's part of it. So I'm really glad you asked me this.

I'm really glad. And I have a much probably longer answer than you anticipated. But I think you'll like this. That's good. So here, so the NBA right now, it's 113 points per game is the league average. Um, it's the highest. It's been in a very long time. Some context, though.

Other than the last couple years, in the last 50, the highest scoring year was 1985. When everyone's like, oh, my God, defense was so hard and they punched in the face. It was 111 per game in 1985. The only time it was prior pre-1985 higher than this was the early 60s. This is a sidebar, but I think you'll like this. 1962, the NBA averaged 118 points per game. That was 118 in 1962.

So what else happened in 1962? Well, Willett average 50 a game. Oscar averaged a triple double. Your guy Dragonfly Jones, part of the volume, pointed this out. Elgin Baylor averaged 38 and 18, but he only played 48 games. Colin, he only played 48 games because Elgin got called up as an army reservist and could only play for the Lakers when he was on weekend leave and he took coach flights and then dropped 38 a night on folks and then had a 61 point finals game. Okay. So why do I bring all that up? 62 when all

these crazy records were set different game. They're playing the in breakneck pace and no one can make shots. So it's just shoot, miss, you get a rebound. Shoot miss. Get a rebound. Okay. So throw those records out. 1985. Why would that be so high scoring? It wasn't three point line. It had been invented, but people barely shot it. Well, the ABA folded. The NBA hadn't fully expanded, and you had massive talent. There was too many good players.

Too many good players. Then what happens? Late 80s, NBA expands. Early 90s, it expands again. And all of a sudden, NBA finals games are 85, 83. And you look around and you watch the Bulls Jazz, and it's like, That's Jeff Foster and Jeff Hornichick. And I don't want to just say white guys here, but there's a lot.

And like it's and it's not. But people don't want to say that because so much of the NBA is wrapped in like the Jordan legacy. They're like, no, the 90s were great. No, they weren't. So now we go here. Three point line, huge part to do with it. Undeniable, people are taking a bazillion threes. Here's the other thing.

Right now. if someone were to say the three best players in the NBA are Janus, Luca, Yokic. Well, that's interesting. So now we're getting guys from Greece via Nigeria, Slovenia, and Serbia. Janus the other night, he crossed up Chris Staps and got to the rim. I'm like, okay, that's a 7-foot 4-inch Latvian trying to guard a 7-foot Nigerian Greek kid. out on the perimeter. I'm not saying this because it helps my LeBron goat argument.

I'm saying it because it's obvious. The players are back. Way better. Players are way better and you have the entire world to choose from. And so, yeah, the defense isn't as physical, but the game is smarter than people understand it better. They understand where the efficient shots are. The three-point shot has proliferated.

We're about to bring over a seven-foot-one-inch French alien who's shooting step back one foot threes like guys it's just better and it's not to me a coincidence that you go back to the mid 80s there was a scoring explosion it's like you have oh my god you have magic you have larry the aBA is folded you have jordan come in you have all these great players come in and there were every team like all the great teams had like four hall of famers and so that's my answer So yes, I agree with you. I think what I think is going to be interesting because your point is the scoring will go down a bit, you know, once teams care more. Well, right now it's at 113.

And in 1985 was 1.11. So if it goes down just a little bit, we're going to be scoring at the same rate as they did in the mid-80s. And there's, you know, that's going to be hard for people to reconcile. But that's why I think's happening. I also think here's the other thing, because there have been a ton of 50-point game. but they've all been by stars. It would be concerning to me, concerning to their own word, but more noteworthy to me. If it was, I don't know if you remember this guy, Tony Delk, he played at Kentucky a long time ago.

He once had a 50-point NBA game. And he's kind of known as like the worst player to score 50. That sounds shitty. But you know what I mean? Yeah. If a lot of average guys were dropping 50, I'd be like, oh, these numbers don't mean. as much. But it's like, oh, Embed dropped 50 and Booker and Donovan Mitchell dropped 70s a lot. I'm not going to lie. That was a lot. But it was also, he had 58 at the end of regulation.

And then went off. Yonis, it's the best players in the league dropping 50. So that kind of makes sense to me. Football season's underway. Now is the perfect time to download Fandulul America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's free bets back if your first bet doesn't win. The promo code is always Colin. Fandul has tons of betting options. I like the same game parlay. Bet a little, win a lot.

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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. Finally, I love these, by the way. I always feel guilty.

I tell my staff, call Nick the first sign of no, bail. No, no, no, I love doing it. And I hadn't been on in a while, but we'll do it especially. No, we can do this, Colin. I love doing it. You know that. So I think, I said this years ago when ESPN did the phone, which was a disaster, is that ESPN owed the industry to roll the dice on the phone. Because they had the capital to take big swings. They were making so much money $8 billion annually.

They owed the industry. it would have think about the industry today if it now owned the phone industry and cable TV. And by the way, those big swings I never worked for ESPN like you did, but I gave them credit anyway for things,

also created 30 for 30. That was a big expensive swing. And it was awesome. Yeah. And it was, you know what I mean? It was awesome. And like, so yeah, the phone is like known as kind of a disaster.

But yeah, but go ahead. Yeah. So I think the Amazon's of the world and the apples of the world to elevate society, artificial intelligence, have the money, take big swings on things. Because small companies can't. And to advance society, that's important. So one of the things I believe, you know, I've been doing this a long time. I have a very large audience, audio, whatever. I never ever believe I'm the gatekeeper of any industry. I'm not going to tell people how to broadcast. Skip, you,

it doesn't matter. Max Kellerman, Stephen A. Smith, we all have different styles. I'm a believer in lean into you. Whatever you is, do more you. But I like occasionally, and I believe in this strongly, throwing out a theory that could be absurd because I don't want talk show hosts to feel they're trapped.

I think I owe it in a weird way. I see myself as, I'm not going to get fired for a crazy take. Who cares if anybody ripped? me. I have a huge army of followers behind me. So I like throwing out occasionally something that seems absurd. Okay. I like. Right? Like it's like

I can do it. Who cares? I have the you have the cashed credibility and career that you can, you're not bulletproof but you at least have you know, you're wearing, you got some body armor on and you can take some slugs

your way. Yeah. Got it. Okay. So Mike Fray, played with Tom Brady. He is absolutely one of the smartest coaches in the league. He knows the importance of the position. And he's now in a conference where Trevor Lawrence looks like a top five quarterback. He's in a conference with Mahomes and Alan and Burrow and Herbert and Trevor Lawrence.

All the good young guys are in his way. Yeah, and Bryce Young's about to be there. That's right. and Vrable is going to get on the phone after this season because there's no dead cap hit for Tannahill and he's going to say, Aaron, get the F down here. Oh, Aaron. I thought you were going to say he's going to try to sit in Tom.

No. Because you said he was friends with Tom. Aaron. So he's going to say Aaron. He's going to play to his vanity. Mahomes, Burrow, Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, I need you. He understands quarterback.

Aaron's never had great defenses in Green Bay. One year he did they want it. So Green Bay simultaneously would take a hit, but because they're not paying Jordan love anything. They could afford it. They can't afford to cut it. That's impossible. That's right. But they can trade it.

They can trade him and it doesn't kill him. And they look at their division. Gough's not a superstar. Cousins has limitations. Justin Fields has a defensive coach and a dysfunctional organization. And they're like, screw it.

Let's give it a run for two years. We found our two receivers, by the way. The cap hit isn't as punitive. That my hot take is Vrable's going to get on the phone and try really hard to convince Aaron Rogers

and Green Bay is going to say, Christ, we're walking on eggshells for 12 years here. Listen, I don't think that's crazy. I thought you were going to say Brady's going to go there. and I was only going to say that's crazy because I don't think Tom Brady's moving to Nashville. And again, I'm from Kansas City.

I'm not taking a shot. By the way, I'm not comparing myself to Apple or Amazon in this whole scenario. No, but in that, no, what you are doing is you are saying people that have the ability to take big swings in any industry should do it. So in the ecosystem of sports broadcasting, I don't know if you're not Apple or Amazon, I don't know who is. You know, whatever it is. That's fine. It's fine. Listen, by the way, this is 40 minutes into a Nick Wright, Colin Coward podcast. The people are still listening either really love one of us or really hate one of us. So it doesn't really matter. But the, so the Rogers thing, I'm going to, I hadn't thought about him with Tennessee. Here's what I do think. And Packer,

fans are killing me for this. But I said after they went four and eight and Aaron had the broken thumb that they should start playing Jordan Love. And now they're like, oh, look at us now. And the answer is really, look at you now. What am I looking at? Like it'd be one thing if you were on this four game winning streak, because Rogers is lightening it up.

On the four game winning street, Colin, Rogers has four touchdown passes. He has an 87 rating. they are averaging less than 200 passing yards per game. They're on the four-game winning streak because they have forced 12 turnovers in four games. They have two defensive touchdowns. Tua, we now know, was dealing with a serious injury and melted down. They played, like, give me a break.

I said you've got to play love. And it's not necessarily punting on the season, but whatever, you've got to play love. And the reason you've got to play love is the question I asked was, Are you still in the Super Bowl business in Green Bay? Because if you are, you're not winning it this year. And what you need to do is figure out, can the kid play? And if he can play a little bit, but you're like, okay, he's not ready yet. Guess what?

If you're still in the Super Bowl business and you're keeping Aaron Rogers, someone will trade you a draft pick for him. You can use that to help next year's team because this team's not good enough. If you're still in the Super Bowl business and he is good enough, well, guess what? Then you have the conversation of do we trade Aaron? But whatever it is, they should have used this time to get information on Jordan Love. Instead, they are going to blindly pick up his fifth year option. Blindly, having seen him play one game against the Chiefs terribly last year and a half a game this year, it's insane.

And they're not going to be able to trade him because nobody has seen him play. They're not going to, now maybe they trade Aaron, like you're saying, but the risk there is that Jordan loves no good. Now, I don't think he's no good, but it's on the board just because he hasn't played. And so I don't think the Packers have handled this right. I also don't think Aaron's made it particularly easy for them, like throughout this process. But I think the idea, you know, Mark Schlarath came on my show and I said, no, it wasn't even my show. It was the day I was filling in for you. He came on your show, but I was talking to him.

And I said, made the point that I thought the Packers should have played Love because they have to decide it was fifth year option. And he said he believes they have already decided that they are picking it up. And he didn't say he was told this. I don't want to misquote stink. He said he thinks his theory is that they're moving on from Aaron, that they've seen enough from Love, that the reason they didn't play him in this spot is because they knew this was Aaron at the end. They were going to let Aaron get his final run and see what happens. But it's an interesting situation they have found themselves in.

Can I ask you one question before we go? Sure. Everyone is saying the NFC is wide open. The NFC has no juggernaut. Why are the Niners not a juggerna? They feel like a juggernaut to me, man. How about this? So today a buddy of mine, degenerate gambler, great guy, he's a fireman and

Connecticut. Good friend. He sends me shit all the time. He's a basketball scout on the East Coast. He's so great. And he said, for all those questioning Brock Purdy, he goes, Matt Campbell will be one of the finalists for the Michigan job of Harbaugh leaves. He's viewed as a super sharp coach. He said, during Brock Purdy's run, in the four years as a starter at Iowa State, they were third. 30 and 17, 25 and 10 in the Big 12, and 7 and 10 record against ranked opponents. Now, that's no worthy. This is Iowa State.

This year with Matt Campbell, 4 and 8, 1 and 8 in the Big 12, 0 and 4 against ranked opponents. Do we have Tony Romo, Kurt Warner on our hands? A great player that was undervaluated, if that's a word? Under-evaluated, sure. Under-evaluated.

Yeah, here's the thing. But I guess my point is, even if he's not a great player, the Niners won a game this year started by Trey Lames. They won a bunch of games started by Jimmy Garoppolo. They're now undefeated with games started by Brock Purdy. Sometimes a team is not reliant on the quarterback. And it would seem to be a team that has Nikki Bosa, Eric Armstead, an amazing defensive coordinator, that Huffanga, who looks like he plays

three positions at once, the safety they have, the best left tackle in football, maybe the best running back in football, the second best tied in, two awesome wide receivers. Team kicks ass, man. And now, am I also kind of trying to speak into existence? Speaking of great friends of yours that have gambling problems, I put, I did this on my podcast. Well, it's right with Nick Wright in the preseason gambling show. I put, I did a whole preseason show where I did my season over under bets. And then you can get on Fan Duel before the season.

You could pick an NFC winner and an AFC winner and parlay it. So just pick who's going to be in the Super Bowl. And before the year, Chiefs Niners was 50 to 1. Not even a winner. Chiefs over-Niners, Niners. It's just the Chiefs win the AFC, Niners win the FC was 50 to 1. I put $1,000 on a column. So I've got that's a live.

bet right now. I think the Niners, to me, with what's going on in Philly with the injuries, are the favorites in the NFC. And the Chiefs are certainly at least co-favorants in the AFC. And I think the Niners, I think people are talking about the NFC like it's wide open purely because and I get it, it's not just a rookie, it's a seventh round rookie, but the kids played great. Shanahan has proven he can win in the playoffs without great quarterback play. And I think this roster is stacked, stacked. So do I. And Debo's coming back.

And Debo's coming back. That's the other thing to look at. Which teams this time of year are getting healthier and which teams are getting more injured? Philly is the most injured it's been all year. The Chiefs, nobody cares because it's Mahomes. He hasn't had his number one wide receiver for six weeks. They haven't had their number one running back who's not very good.

But for five weeks, they're both coming. back. Like the teams, you got to, that's something you always got to watch. It's one of the things I worry about with your Bengals. Lyle Collins, like you had that offensive line continuity all year. Lyle Collins goes down. Like how that is concerning to me. One last thing before I go, I don't know if I believe this or not, but it is

I mean, believe it, it's true. But I don't know if I buy into it. The Steelers are seven and two when T.J. Watt plays. Seven and two when T.J. Watt plays. That's great. easy. That team's got no one on offense. I know Collinsworth was falling all over and about Kenny Pickett. Dude's got hands smaller than your daughter and he's got six touchdown pass. I don't think he's a superstar. All right, before we end, hold on. I have to turn the lights

on in here so everyone can see what your producers deprive the audience seeing. Hold on. Wow. Look at that. Look at this. I mean, God, that's beautiful. I mean, Oh, there's too much lights beaming down. I mean, we got artwork. We got Christmas trees. In the middle of Harlem, New York, my man, living a life. God, that's a good. And Colin told me, Colin told me, he was like, Nick, you're going to move to New York City.

Rent, don't buy. You gave me that advice. I was everyone else like, buy. And he's like, man, you're going to live in New York. You're going to live in different places. It's crazy expensive. I think Colin also knew I probably didn't have any money to buy at the time. He was trying to be nice.

And I have, and it's great. I miss you, buddy. I miss you, man. I'm going to see you in person in Arizona. The volume's having a party. Oh, really? Will I be invited? Of course.

Of course. Okay. All right, that'll be great. I appreciate you, buddy. See you later, buddy. Volume. Make sure to check out the Dremon Green show. I brought Dremont Green into the volume because one of the more entertaining voices in sports,

unique perspective, understands behind the rope. Also chops up with guests like Gary Payton, Zach Levine, Tracy McGrady. Make sure download the Draymond Green Show wherever you get your podcast, only on the volume podcast network. 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, 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. 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 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.