The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Nick Wright Pt.1, Aaron Rodgers Bad Football Decisions, Love A Top-3 NFC QB In 24’, Lamar Jackson, Tua

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

Nick Wright, host of “First Things First” on FS1 joins Colin to talk NFL quarterbacks! Colin argues that when you put Aaron Rodgers political/vaccine opinions aside, his FOOTBALL related decision making is bad for having chosen a less talented team in the Jets (3:30) and compare his decision making to that of other star QB’s that changed teams late in their career (13:30). They debate whether Jordan Love could become a top 2-3 quarterback in the NFC in 2024 (16:00) and discuss the importance of young quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud landing with the right team and coach (24:30). They also talk about how fans with rigid thinking delude themselves into thinking thinking Lamar Jackson ISN’T a great quarterback (31:00) and that Tua IS a great quarterback. (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See Sportsbook.draftKings.com slash basketball terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right, Nick Wright, we try to bring them on. as often as we can. So I'm going to start with something that I think you'll like. Okay.

That's a great place to start. Yeah, I mean, why opposed to starting with something that really pisses you off? Yeah, I mean, yeah, let's start off on a good foot. By the way, I've decided this podcast, I'm drinking wine. I've decided to go classy. I figure you're going something's hard liquor. No. By the end, you're going to be slurred.

I'm going wine. I'm going Diet Coke. So. Oh, I'm drinking alone? Oh, that was not part of the deal. Now you're really going to have the upper hand by the end of this thing. But go ahead. So I've kind of stayed out of all Aaron Rogers' political opinions and vaccine. I can disagree with stuff. But I also believe Aaron has a right to an opinion. I can disagree. A dissenting opinion. I don't really care. But I think there is a personality trait. A couple of them with Aaron that are fairly obvious.

Number one, he doesn't like authority. He struggled with his parents. his brother, Green Bay's front office. He pushes back on the media, the government. That's okay. I mean, when I was a kid growing up, that was known as a liberal, a hippie in the 60s, right? So I'm okay with that. The other one is Aaron is absolutely sure he's the smartest guy in the room. And it comes across in every interview.

Think about this. Forget all the government vaccine stuff. Robert Kennedy conspiracy theories. Look at his football decisions. he chose an offense, a defensive coach, not a successful offensive coach, because he wanted the Jets, he liked the Jets. They have one player, Garrett Wilson, that could start for the Packers. One, Green Bay has the friendliest offensive salary cap for the next five years. They're not paying either tied in, five receivers.

The offensive line, all five start over the Jets. even Aaron Jones to me is a bigger, stronger version of Breece Hall. So his football decisions stink that he really, really believed Jets is going to be a great fit. They have one player. If Garrett Wilson twists his ankle, they don't have a player that can start for the Packers. When you watch Green Bay beat Dallas, if you don't believe it's a fluke and you believe it's players, that game wasn't competitive. Green Bay is stacked with talent. Well, there's a lot of Green Bay angles here to go to.

There's a fun. Remind me once we get on with the Rogers stuff to ask you a Jordan Love question that I was asked today. So, all right, you sat on the front end, don't care about Aaron Rogers, you know, political opinion, stances, vaccine status. I don't either. And he, in my opinion, uses that as a shield, meaning any critical. any criticism of him, he's like, oh, you don't like me. He is using the fact that some people criticized him about being unvaccinated. I think more people criticized him about lying about it.

And then any negative attention he gets, he can be like, oh, that's not because you're actually engaging with what I've done. You hate me for this reason, which is just nonsense because Lamar Jackson's never been more popular. I don't think he was vaccinated. Kurt Cousins is one of the most well-liked post-quarterback series. Oh, yeah. Quarterbacks in the league, I know he's not vaccinated. So it's not about that. But it is, this is someone who's, you know, in your life or someone that you know a family member who's like, yeah, nobody invites me around anymore because they don't want to hear the truth.

And it's like, no, it's because you're an asshole. Like it's not, it's not our failing. It's yours. So that stuff does irritate me. I'm not going to act like it doesn't. But you cannot in modern America not have people in your life that you love, care about and spend time with that have different opinions on be it COVID, the upcoming election, a lot of things. Like nobody is that in a bubble. So we all know how to deal with people.

We disagree with some of the people we love and care about the most. So that's not it. Now you mention the football thing. So I think that was ego. I don't think it was purely. I think the Jets are better than the Packers. I think it was he probably underrated what the Packers could be because they were mediocre last year with him.

And he doesn't have the self-awareness to be like, well, I was mediocre last year. Like, you weren't getting A plus Aaron Rogers last year. back, there was a great moment when he was on Macapie last season, when I think it was after the first Lions game or something when the Packers were before they had started winning those games, where he just kind of says out of nowhere, he's like, yeah, and you know, my coach said that was my highest graded game of the year and a loss. And it's like, oh, this guy just can't acknowledge that he might be part of their team struggling. So I think that's the first part of it. And the second part of it is, I think he thought, okay, well, it doesn't matter what the Jets have.

Once they have me, they'll be awesome. And I think that's one thing for Aaron to be that. And by the way, that might have been true a decade ago. It's not true at 39 in the AFC in that in that division. But it's another thing for the Jets a year into the experience. Now, they are not getting the Aaron Rogers they thought they were getting whatever they thought they were. They were getting a player a year older, off in Achilles, a year more removed from football, from good football. I mean, that game Jordan Love played was the best quarterback's, best quarterback play the Packers have gotten a playoff game in seven years. Yeah. Look it up. That was the, and now he played phenomenally. So that would, that's a high bar. So I think it is ego and being

delusional. Like I, I know this probably makes you a little uncomfortable because I often use you when I'm talking to you in analogies. But I think, you know, you made a decision in your career almost a decade ago to go from a more stable place to not quite a startup, whatever it is. I would, I would argue that would be maybe a poor decision for 70-year-old Colin Cowherd to make. Right. To be like, you know what? I'm, you know, I can carry and build this new thing. Aaron's 70 in football years.

Yeah. To think I can, you know, go LeBron the Cavs the second time around this for the Jets. No, you can't. And so I just, yeah, I think that, I think the Jets are, I looked around the league. Mike Vrable, been to an AFC title game, gotten the one seed with Tennessee. A couple down years, not good enough, we got to move on. Bill Belichick, obviously won six Super Bowl. Walls went to nine. Also, went to the playoffs with Mack Jones. Two down years. Not good enough.

Got to move on. The other coach that was just fired after two bad years, I'll remember it. It doesn't matter. But we're talking about all these coaches moving on. And then you look at the Jets. It's like, well, our coach wins 30% of his games, has two career wins against the division, has been there three years. good enough. Let's stay there. You look at these coaches where it wasn't good enough, and then you look at Bob Sala, who they're like, yeah, let's run that back. And it's because that's what Aaron wants. And so then you do have to ask yourself the question.

Is what Aaron wants right now the best chance at winning or the most power possible? Do I want the best coach I can get, or do I want a coach who knows the reason he has the job is thanks to me? and therefore I run the whole operation. Yeah, I always feel in sports and in our business, it's wins. Like, in our business, I don't care about anything other than in radio, my revenue is great right now. Highest ad rates have ever had. And in TV, my ratings are my highest. The volume we're crushing.

Like, to me, it's not about me. It's about the unit. If the unit's good, that exerts pressure on everybody around you because nobody wants to break up winning. right? If you're winning and your show by the way is doing great, nobody wants to screw that out, right? They want to extend it. So to Aaron, it's really crazy.

Did he have the forethought with all these super young players for Green Bay? He saw them. He saw Dobbs and Christian Watson. He knew they were talented. Did he not think, Jesus, if I hang around here for three years, you don't have to pay them. these are tremendous players. I mean, Aaron has to have some of like in the easier conference and and a lot of,

a lot of factors there. And so I, I don't think that. I don't think he thought those guys were that good because they didn't succeed last year. And he can't. I don't think he has the self-awareness to be like how much of that was on me. if you operate from a place of I am always excellent. I am always producing excellence.

And the results aren't excellent, then I think you're like, well, this place sucks. If Brady was in New England and they would have had Dobbs, Christian Watson. Jayden Reed this year, who I know Aaron didn't have, but yeah, but go ahead. Tom wouldn't have left. Tom was too smart. Tom left. I remember specifically on the sideline. during a New England game when he yelled at the receivers,

just get open. His problem was, New England's last seven drafts with Belichick, two pro bowlers, one's a punter. Tom would have stayed. He was frustrated. I was told he was frustrated for three years before he left.

The idea. And by the way, where did Tom choose? Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Bruce Ariens. Where did Stafford shoes? McVeigh, Cooper Cup, Andrew Whitworth. Aaron literally left this bevy of super talented kids saw them.

New, by the way, in the following draft, they were going to go heavy tied-in. And it was, all you had to do was go to one mock draft. It was the best tied-end class when he was leaving. And Green Bay, they drafted two, I think, in the second round or third. So the takeaway is, did Aaron ever get out of himself and go, this is all about having the right pieces? When Peyton Manning chose Denver, go look at their pieces. O line, their receiver, they're tied in. It is remarkable that he didn't look at all that Green Bay talent that was on display Sunday.

Now, some of it hadn't been drafted yet and go, God, look how good they are now. What are they going to be in a year? And so, all right, so then now let me ask you the, so I obviously, the podcast I do, I do with my son. And he, about six weeks ago, so we watched, obviously the Packers game on Thanksgiving together. And then I was shortly after Thanksgiving, I was in L.A. And he and I watched Packers Chiefs together. And after that Packers Chiefs game, he said to me, he's like, I'm going to be a Jordan love guy. I'm like, really?

He's like, I think he can be awesome. And this was before he really got super red hot. And I was like, all right, he's like, he's going to be my guy. He's like, I'm going to plant my flag that that guy is going to be awesome. I like him. So right now he feels like the smartest guy in the world. He's like, I feel like I was the first one on it. So he asked me this question.

He said, where does Jordan Love fall in the NFC quarterback hierarchy going into next year? And I was like, oh, man. I was like, now you and I like Stafford. Well, I think Stafford is the greatest arm talent. Outside of Mahomes, he may be the best armed talent in the league. And he's, God damn, he's tough. And so I said, I don't care that he lost that playoff game. I thought he played really well in it.

I would say Stafford is won. Okay, after that. I think Jordan Love, again, people are allowed new information. So change their opinion, new information. If this sample size is doubled from the midway point of the season and now, you can change in, yes. Six-four, athletic, big arm, back foot-thrower with ease, erratic, but so is Stafford. I don't say, like, Burrow is rare. Most guys, it can be erratic.

Those guys throw a lot of picks. I think number two is in play. It's in play. It's not a guarantee. It's in play. Go ahead. Okay. I love Kyler Murray, but I have to acknowledge he's 5-11, but I am a huge Kyler

Murray fan. I think he's a better version of Russell Wilson in his prime. Yeah, with maybe, yeah, maybe not as good study habits and maybe a little more polarizing at times. But sure, you like Kyler, but the point is, Dak had a legitimate MVP case this year. And now that works against him because when you play that well, it's like Embed to a degree. Embed being this good in the regular season, then being so one different in the playoffs, consistently, all of a sudden, it's almost you'd be better off if you weren't quite as good in the regular season. Right, right, right. Because then you would, you feel like the moment it gets home.

So, Dax Stock takes a massive hit. Jalen Hertz is worth a real discussion now as far as, who is he? So did I do when I talked to you today, did I do the Peyton Manning thing with you? No, no. Okay. All right. So people think I'm being unfair. I think people believe I'm being unfair to jail him.

But I'm going to talk about Peyton Manning for a second. Peyton Manning was the best play it was looked at as a no doubt NFL franchise quarterback in high school. Yeah. When the Gatorade player of the year. Every step of the way at Tennessee, they're like, that guy is going to be the number one pick. That guy's a franchise quarterback. As a rookie, even though he threw damn near 30 picks, everyone was like, yep, he's got it. Second year, he was 13 and three franchise quarterback.

Third year, led the league in touchdowns and yards. franchise quarterback fourth year was the playoffs playoffs he's six and ten touchdowns are down interceptions way back up did anyone in that moment say to themselves oh i think he's that guy versus who he'd been every step of the way up to it no everyone's like a weird year but i'm sure he'll be okay right that was what people that maybe they questioned him in the playoffs or whatever i don't even think that it really started yet they were like that guy is a franchise quarterback okay opposite of that. A guy who was a tweener coming out of high school.

It's like, we'll see. At college, is he a, yeah, we'll see at a second college. And when we're talking about, is he a franchise quarterback? We'll see in the draft. Second, third rounder. As a rookie, kind of a tweener. As a second year player, kind of a tweener. Third year, holy shit, this guy's awesome.

He's in the Super Bowl dropping dimes. as a fourth year player. I don't know. Well, so now, now it's like, okay, if when a guy has a body of work of seven years of amateur and pro ball of being a clear cut going to be a franchise quarterback in one bad year, we don't say he's the bad version of himself. If a guy's got six years of body of work of,

I'm not sure if that's an NFL quarterback. And one year where you know he is, does that then, make you pause for a moment. It does for me. It does for me a little bit. And so I don't, it's not that I think Jalen is like a bad player or was the biggest problem with Philly. But I do think there's, it is fair to question, will we look at 10 years into his

career as last season as not only the best season he ever had, but an outlier, as a year that he was not able to recapture? And if you're an Eagles fan, that's scary. Because they paid him based on that's going to be the standard. Not the Super Bowl every year, but that's going to be the standard. 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. great. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard 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, Cliver 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-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at a 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 was big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Then you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. People. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I wonder sometimes if we don't give. So Marino had Shula. Brady mostly had Josh McDaniels. McDaniels. Yep. Be it quarterback or offensive coordinator. There's two things you have to get right in the NFL. Pittsburgh can't get either right. And they have a good head coach.

coach, quarterback and OC, because most offensive coaches don't call their own plays. So Pittsburgh can't get either of those right. They get everything else on the roster right, the culture, the toughness, the pass, right, everything. Quarterback, they haven't had a good O.C. since Ariens in 2011 and a good quarterback OC combined since that year. So do we ever consider, we know quarterbacks are more important than coaches and coordinators. But it is interesting when you start inspecting the great quarterbacks, like the great actors, they mostly work with the same writer or director, Bradley Cooper,

Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks. They're like, yeah, I'm going to stick with that guy. You start looking at Aikman. You start looking at Fouts. You start looking, I mean, I'm talking legends. You start going through all these quarterbacks. Mahomes has always had Reed. That's his guru. That's his muse. You start looking at Jalen Hertz. And it's like, well, Lincoln Riley and Shane Steichen briefly outside

of that. Like, even the great ones, even Mahomes, without Andy Reed, if he had a defensive, like right now, C.J. Stowd's tearing it up. But he has a very good. O.C. And that guy's going to leave.

Right. And that makes you worried. It doesn't, no, I'm not. And I think CJ throws a beautiful, effortless ball. But it is interesting that we all know. We give quarterback 70, 30 edge over coach. But I think if you went back and traced the top 30 quarterbacks of all time, and mostly now, they generally have a muse. They have a singular guy that sees the world like they do.

And obviously, probably the most famous Montana and Walsh. And this is sneaky, an argument of that the best is yet to come for Josh. Allen because he had it briefly in Daible. Yeah. And you saw the best of him. And then Daible left. And now, and even right now, it kind of feels like they're just having Josh Allen run with a governor on it. It's like we don't know how to get the 300-yard passing game without the turnovers.

So we're asking for 200 yards passing, 75 yards, you kicking everybody's ass running, and just don't turn the ball over. It's a weird. And that's a, go ahead. His weapons are better this year. I mean, James Cook, the kid from Boise State two years ago. So to your point, it is less about Allen now, but some of that's stable. And I'm not saying it's like I've had, I've had 20 producers in my life, radio and TV. But I have probably my best one ever now. My show's always been better when I have my best one. But I've had, you know, I've had a fine career. And they're like you, Wilds and

Bruce Ard, it's just perfect chemistry. If one left, the show would still succeed. But there is a time in everyone's life when you have the perfect team. Perfect team, and you can feel it. And so there's- You can feel it. And so this is, this is like sneaky an argument that is kind of an argument as to why it's so tough for defensive coaches to be the best hire you can make.

Because like D'Amico, I think looks awesome. And I think that was a great hire. I think it's inarguable. But then what happens is, and we've talked to this before, your quarterback is going to be on an offensive coordinator conveyor belt. Right. Because if you get a great one, he eventually leaves you. Yeah.

If you get the wrong one, you have to replace him. Like, I forgot, oh, Seth Payne, who you played in the NFL for the Jags and the Texans, does radio in Houston. He tweeted not that long ago because he still covers the Texans now about everyone in Houston's sad Bobby Sloick might get a job. And he's like, the dream is that your offensive coordinator that is great with your quarterback gets a job, if he gets a job, that he flames out so spectacular. He comes back. He can never, and he can never get another one. Because that's why on Josh McDaniels. Josh McDaniels thing in Denver was so bad.

Brady got him for another decade before the Raider took a chance on him. In a weird way, that's kind of what's happened with Spags on the defensive side in Kansas City. That's right. Spag's tenure as a head coach was so unfortunate that it's like, okay, I'm a lifetime D coordinator. And Andy's like, yep, I'm never going to have to worry about that side of the ball. And so it's a so but because you're trying to like nurture these quarterbacks like Joe Burrow. They're talking about the Callahan guy, Brian Calh. I forget what's his first name is.

Bill Callahan. Well, I don't know if it's Bill or Brian. One was a father. One's a son. I assume everyone in the NFL's really. Bill's the old guy, the old line guy. Yeah. That he's getting head coaching jobs.

So is Joe Burrow going to have to learn either a new system or is it going to be? So that's tough. Well, see. Even when you have the offensive coach, like when BNAMI left Kansas City, there's been some growing pains for Patrick. Yeah. Ideally, you want an offensive coach. You can win with a defensive coach, but you're going to go through offensive coordinators regularly. So, DeMico's winning, but they're going to have to hire a new OC within a year. What you want is McVeigh, who has the ability as he changes an OC to kind of step in and kind of tweak it very quickly because these defensive coaches, Belichick. Brady laughed at Belichick. He didn't even

know the language of offense and he's been a football guy for 50 years. So it is, I think Houston's fine and I think C.J. Stroud will be fine. But I said that, how about this? I'll throw this out there. You'll think it's crazy. I said the comp for C.J. Stroud was Jared Goff. And I had said on the air multiple times, nobody will acknowledge

this. That's a good comp. I don't see juice with either. But I've always loved Goff. You've heard me. I love Goff. I think he's a top 10 guy. But Goff inherited a disaster by the second year he had McVeigh and Whitworth a left tackle. Stroud

got the good coach initially and the good left tackle. If you go to Goff's second year numbers, there's Stroud's rookie numbers. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. See, so I don't, the comp there is tough for me just because Stroud is so much more juice in his arm

than Goff does. And so like to me, the upside for Stroud is higher than Goff's ever was. That was Lance Zerline, a Houston guy that made the comp. And he said, listen, after the Georgia game, when C.J. Stroud ran, it's like, there's your juice. Like Herbert and the Rose Bowl. Oh, he can run too. But the comp is really good pocket throwers, really accurate, better in the pocket than moving, though they can move. But it is interesting. Gough's second year, coach left tackle, and a couple weapons. They're

the same numbers. Actually, I think he has a few more touchdowns, Gough's second year. But it's just Goff inherited nonsense. And I did, and I said, Goff's not good enough to overcome nonsense. And I said with Stroud, he's not good enough to overcome nonsense. He didn't inherit nonsense. Great O.C., great left tackle, good weapons, good coach. So we still don't know the truth of that.

It's easy to say, well, Stroud's amazing. But D'Amico Rines was so, I remember talking to somebody inside the Niners. They're like, we made this guy like defensive controller. By the next year, like, should we make him coordinator? He was there for like an hour and a half. Like, D'Amico was a rock. Listen, I was in Houston covering the Texans when he was a player. When he was a player, people said he's going to be a head coach.

Yeah. Like the, I'll get another, I forget who tweeted it. But somebody tweeted, I think if I owned an NFL team and I was interviewing for head coaches, I would only interview nerds or linebackers. It's like the, it's like the player, like people love Antonio Pierce, Ravel's been good. D'emico's been awesome. And then, like, there's the Mike McDaniel, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVey.

Like, I'm a genius at 28 years old. I can figure it out. He's like, those are the two lanes. Either a linebacker and Dan Campbell's not a linebacker. He's tied in, but it's kind of a linebacker at heart. Like a linebacker mentality or a nerd. I loved it. You know, one of the things that I, and I think we both like this,

sort of the theories of sports, I find Lamar Jackson, fascinating. And there's there's so many comps with Lamar, but I think what I like most about Lamar is that your opinion of Lamar will tell me everything about you the person. Because in order to love Lamar, you can't be rigid. You have to accept initial opinions or wrong, including your own. Because Lamar is now an elite pocket passer. Lamar wins 80% of his games. Lamar and Josh Allen. Mahomes is maybe the more refined quarterback.

Lamar and Josh are the hardest players to frankly defend because when they want to run, it's kind of, you can't do anything about it. They're bigger, faster, stronger than other people. And that what's fascinating about Lamar, when people tell me they don't like Lamar, it doesn't tell me anything about Lamar.

It tells me about the person, that you struggle with change, that you struggle with things that aren't conforming to your initial view. If you go into Lamar, this whole thing about the pocket quarterback, if you watch football, you can't tell me he can't throw it from the pocket. He doesn't have a top tight end. It's OBJ to a rookie in a second year guy. He literally is so dangerous that San Francisco's Warner's and Boses and Chase Youngs are afraid to rush him.

Is that Lamar is a classic. It's like if you tell me you vote for Trump, I don't need. to know, I can kind of frame who you are and what matters to you. If you tell me you don't like Lamar, it's like they used to joke, every sports writer ever loves Springsteen. Right? Like, I think they, yeah. It's a profile for it. And so it is funny with Lamar. When I watch him play, I can't imagine not saying, that's one of the top three, three guys in the league, but it is amazing how many people still struggle with him. Well, I think it's two things. One is, I think you're right.

Like there is a level of either rigidity or I'm convinced. It's not the same, but it's people who even, you know, two MVPs and a championship in were like, ah, not sure about Steph Curry, not sure if that can win in the NBA. It's like, oh, that couldn't win in the NBA that used to exist. Right. And that maybe you wish came back. But in today's NBA, that can be one of the three best players in the league. That style, that broke, that thing.

And you just don't want to accept that the world or the game has changed. The Lamar thing is almost has felt for his whole career a little more nefarious. There's almost a level of it's not just that he's black, but it's that the way he carries himself and that he is so unashamedly himself that some people have been like, I don't want that guy to be the best quarterback in the league or the MVP in a level that other black quarterbacks didn't threaten them the same way, like Mahomes or other guys that they were like, okay, no, no, no, yeah, that's more okay. So there was to me always a level of that. But then there also is the level of people have a really hard time doing what I think you do

really well and somehow people give you shit for it, which is, hey, guess what? changed my mind? Like, hey, I thought this. I watched more games. I saw more things and I've changed my mind on something. And so I think there were a lot of people that planted their flag. This guy is just an athlete, not a quarterback. And then any evolution he makes, they won't give him credit for.

want to. Now, I want to be clear. Like, I thought I was skeptical that the offensive coordinator change was going to work. I thought in the loaded AFC, the Ravens could miss the playoffs. It's not like I've been like, oh, my God, he's going to have this monster year. But as he was having it, I was not in denial that it was happening. I wasn't like, no. I mean, you know what? I think it's Isaiah likely carrying him. It's like I watched the games. Like, there is, I, because there's another quarterback that I think is almost the inverse, which is, I think that people deep down don't think is good, but are either afraid of going against the numbers or they think it's mean, and so they lie to themselves, and that's two.

I think that there is a level of, if you watch a lot of football, you're like, well, he's a small doesn't have a big arm is not if he is athletic or he's not it doesn't really matter because unfortunately he can't really run because he can't get hit because the concussion stuff

and he needs everything perfect for it to work including the weather perfect so everything people it was I've never heard such a thing in the NFL where people just basically and I think they were serious.

We're like, yeah, I know the Chiefs beat an 11 win team by 19 points, but you got to almost put an asterisk on it because it was fucking cold. And they're like, and we all know Miami's can't deal with that. Like they came from Venus. And it's like, oh, it's not fair.

This is not their climate. It's professional football players. But by the way, not wrong. It's like, you're correct. Can't deal with it. So all these things. But there was to me a push, especially about Midway 3,

this year where folks in our profession would do almost this rhetorical thing. Well, what more do you want him to do? Leads the league in pass rating, leads the league in this stat. What more does he have to do to convince you? And I would listen to this and I'd be like, okay, either one of two things. Either you're just doing a captain easy stance, like this will be a popular opinion. Miami fans will be happy for me. Or you, I feel, have a fundamental misunderstanding of how.

football works because what I want him to do is something I think he's physically incapable of doing, incapable of doing, which is be one of the eight to ten human beings alive that when shit is bad and you have to just make it happen, you can. Yeah. And we know he can't. Right. And so it's like, what can he do? Unfortunately, the answer is nothing.

Like, nothing. Like there is not. And people would try to be like, oh, you're underrating what he does with his eyes. and how he moves defenders. And I'm like, you're just bullshitting. Like, you're just saying all these things because you agree with me that if a game comes down to can you make the throws, you don't have the guy. And so, and then after this playoff loss, and this is what would just kill me if I were

Mike McDaniel. After the playoff loss, some of the narrative switched to, okay, guys, I know he's smart, and I know he gives good quotes, but how much blame should Mike McDaniel get here? And my response would be if I'm him, like, okay, so now, because I have gotten the absolute most, anyone could ever get out of this quarterback, now it is turned into, it's my fault. We didn't go further because you've tricked yourself into thinking, we have someone we don't have a quarterback. Like, why do they fall apart once the weather changes and the teams get better? Because our quarterback can't throw it 30 yards in a stiff wind. That's right.

And everyone knows it. Everyone knows it. No, it is. The media can be protective on that. I mean, it's kind of what the media does. Like I, John Stewart said this years ago, just enough. Conservatives are just enough right when they say the media is in the bag for the left. There's just enough examples where you're like, yeah, well, you kind of, it's like they,

the media oversteps places that it shouldn't, you know, overstep. And I think sometimes the media is protective and they choose. And I think two is one of those. Everybody feels bad about the concussions. He's a kid of faith. He's a nice, I mean, he's a really nice kid. He's an easy, easy guy to root for.

And he's not the problem with the, it's not like I'm saying, this guy's a bum. This guy shouldn't be in the league. But I had a real problem just reconciling with people that I like and respect their opinion were like, I think he's the NFL's MVP.

It's like, come on like, what are you? What are you doing? If there was an anonymous team vote, you think, He has 10 guys on that team that vote for not for the league MVP for Dolphins MVP. That vote for him over Tyree Kill? Like, no, you don't.

And it's not even that you can't win with him. It's that everything has to be perfect. And the guys that it's not a long list of guys that things don't have to be perfect for. But those are the guys that have not all the value, but a wildly disproportionate amount of the value when it comes to who, can win this time of year in the NFL, especially right now in the AFC, where weird things going on where in the NFC, you don't really have to deal with bad weather. You know, it's domes in warm weather cities.

It's L.A., San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas, Tampa, I guess. Dones are warm weather. The only good outdoor teams are Philly and Green Bay, and they didn't have home field this year. And the AFC, the only good dome team is Houston. and Miami's warm weather, but then it's Cincinnati, Buffalo, Cleveland, Kansas City, Baltimore. So if you're going to try to win in the playoffs and you're in the AFC, you sure shit better be able to go out in the cold outdoors in January. And in the NFC, you can build a track team, be like, we're probably going to be indoors the whole way anyway. That's right.

The volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygle 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 I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the Fourth. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam Jay. 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. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.