The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast Prime Cuts - Andy Reid > Bill Belichick? Goodell’s Brilliant Management Of The NFL, Mahomes Is The “MJ of the NFL”, Clippers A Title Contender

Episode Date: February 17, 2024

Colin’s top takes of the week! He’s joined by John Middlekauff, host of “3 and Out” to debate whether Andy Reid’s legacy has surpassed that of Bill Belichick (3:00) and discuss why Roger Goodell’s leadership has allowed the NFL to become the juggernaut that it is today (13:00) Colin is also joined by Ryen Russillo, host of “The Ryen Russillo Podcast” at the Ringer to talk about why Patrick Mahomes has become the Michael Jordan of the NFL (27:15) and debate whether the star-studded LA Clippers could win a championship this season (34:30).  (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #Herd See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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All right, there we go. Kansas City, 2522. It hits the under by half a point. John Middlkoff, former NFL scout three and out, who knows the Niners very, very well. You know, I had said this about Andy Reed. If I look at Bill Belichick's career, it is overwhelmingly tied to one player. I mean, they were bad in New England before Brady. They were bad after him.

weren't very good in Cleveland. I'll say this. We don't consider Bill Russell with 11 rings better than Jordan was six. I think Mahomes is the best quarterback I've ever seen. I think Andy Reid's the best coach I've ever seen. He's not tied. Donovan McNabb was a B-minus quarterback. He was always inaccurate.

He was an athlete, not ideal size. You know, he's always short-hop stuff. He was kind of like he was a good quarterback. He was out of shape in the Super Bowl, Colin. I mean, he was throwing up in the Super Bowl. I mean, I just feel like Andy, who always gave Belichick problems, even with second-tier quarterbacks, I think Andy's a better coach than Belichick. First of all, when you go to overtime, we're all just, I mean, Romo and Nance are like, oh, this is Andy Reed.

This is almost unfair. I mean, Andy hides stuff. So much in New England's success was tied to an offensive. line coach. I mean, if you go look when Scott Pioly leaves in the last eight or nine drafts when Bill controlled him, he didn't draft well. He's toned, he's allergic to offense. Once he lost offensive people, Bill really regressed badly. I think you look at Andy Reed's coaching tree, his ability to adapt, win with multiple quarterbacks, multiple coordinators. I think Andy's the best football coach since Bill Walsh. That's my take. You know, again, Bill Russell,

had some advantages. You know, it was Red Arbock. There were fewer teams. And Bill, I'm not, and in no way saying Bill, I mean, listen, he helps find Dantes Karnakia. He, you know, helped, he drafted Brady. I think, but I think Andy Reid, I mean, we think Shanahan is elite. We both do. Top three or four coach in the year.

That game comes down to that last drive. I mean, you have to acknowledge that Andy's doing stuff. they're hiding stuff they haven't used. I don't know. When I watch Andy Reid's teams in big games, I mean, he's the best coach off a buy of all time. He's now very close to being the best big game coach ever. They win more close games, more games they've trailed and they have. I'm not in any way discounting Mahomes' ability.

But shit, that last drive in overtime, it is so clever. I mean, how many third and twos and fourth and twos did they run a play? And you're like, oh, they haven't seen. that one this year. I don't know. Where do we classify Andy Reed? Yeah, I mean, I think he's definitely, you know, Walsh is going to go down as probably the most famous coach of all time right there with Lombardi, right? When you close your eyes, you say the NFL, you'd go Walsh, Lombardi, and you said Belichick to, you know, Walsh won three Super Bowls. People forget Seaford won two, right? So Andy now has three. One thing that's not debatable with him and Bill, because I do

think Bill has taken some unfair criticism. Like we watched him make incredible moves in the biggest games from double passes to not calling the timeout against Pete Carroll to embarrassing Sean McVeigh, who granted was like 34 at the time, but still they scored three points in the Super Bowl. When their teams are not Super Bowl contenders, right? And Andy's proven it with he was making the playoffs with Jeff Garcia. He had Alex Smith competing to win that division when Peyton Manning was in it. You remove Tom Brady. The team is horrendous, awful. And I would say, if you just factor in the errors, and you've talked about this, Belichick in an era where defense is physical is cream of the crop. Right. He was developing defensive game plans for Parcells to take

out Walsh in Montana. Early on in Brady, he had those physical teams taken out Marshall Falk in the Super Bowl, some of the great game plans. But that league no longer exists. The league we're in now is Kyle Shannon, Sean McVeigh, Andy Reed, offensive league, innovative. How to get first downs is just, if not more important than defense. And Andy's the best. It's not even close. And I think anyone that knows him, and I knew him before he had a Super Bowl, he's just an incredible human being.

You know, that's one thing. People defend Belichick that have been around him because they had a lot of success around him. People defend Andy that have been around him before he wanted because they like them. because the way he treated people, the way he acted in the office, the way he was to coaches, look at his coaching tree. Like if you factor that in, one thing Bill Walsh got a lot of credit for, right, was one super bowls, always pivoted off players and found guys like, I don't know, Mike Holmgren, George Seeper, who then led it, they had this, you know, kind of opening with what came

with coaches that became ran the league. Bill was the opposite, right? Look at Andy's coaching tree. It's freaking incredible. And all those guys swear by him. Yeah, Matt Nagy's considered a miss. In a time when Stafford, Rogers, and Kirk Cousins were in their prime, he got Mitch Trubisky to the playoffs twice. Mr. Bisckey is one of the – I think Mr. Biscuit was like the worst contract in the league.

He made $8 million and he's not even – he's barely a third-string quarterback. Matt Nagy's going to be head coach in the NFL again. Like, I promise you, he will be. You know who likes him the most on the staff beside Andy Reed? Patrick Mahomes. Like, I'm sorry. I'm giving that guy some credit. of understanding what can coach or not.

No, but Bill Walsh would have struggled with Mr. Trisky. How many games with Belichick have won with Mr. Misky? The guy can't hit water if he's sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean. So, listen, I think Andy Reid, the scary part is Colin. He's just not done.

Like, all this retirement talk, Andy's not a golfer. He's not a fisher. And also, to your point, they'll move off Chris Jones. They've done a good job drafting Carl Offtis and some other players. They got some pass rush. So they'll move off Chris.

They'll probably try to get Kelsey to sign another deal. But, I mean, they're not, I mean, the smart teams in this league, I think, are they'll pay a front five guy. Aaron Donald, Rams, they'll pay him, Chris Jones. But the smart teams in this league is what drives me crazy about Pittsburgh. He can't be spending your money on defense. Outside of a T.J. Watt, he's got to go draft safeties and corners. And most of these guys, if you look at them, Kansas City, they're not drafting a corner. Occasionally, if it's a big need, they'll go early, but a lot of them are fourth, fifths, and six-round draft picks.

Same with running backs. So I just think, I look at Andy and I think to myself, New England started to show signs of regression even after the Atlanta Super Bowl. It was very obvious they could not draft a receiver or a tight end after Gronk. You started seeing that at the end. Remember Brady on the bench, screaming, get open. I don't know where Kansas City's organization has a whole. draft, develop, communication,

quarterback, defense, bags. I always felt you could really see the more power bill got, the worst the drafting got. It wasn't even an argument. I mean, like, Vich's hit. Like, he's like Brad Holmes in Detroit.

You go to the last three years, like six hits. In the late rounds, too. It's not even just the first rounds. He's getting Bacheco's a seventh rounder. Watson, the DB, I think was a seventh rounder. So they're getting players all over the draft. Yeah, they don't know.

don't really have. I mean, they really don't. They, they've got the, they've got the ability to move off really popular, talented guys, which, you know, a lot of organizations don't. They can't, they just can't move off them. I, I mean, if I, if I, if I, I'm trying to think my next year year's Super Bowl bubble. I thought this was, I honestly, I thought this was the year to get Kansas City. Yeah. I thought last year was two and they've won two. I mean, I was thinking, I've been watching, I'm almost. 40 years old. So I remember watching sports for 30 years, right? The Cowboys in the mid-90s had a great run. The Yankees, obviously the Bulls, the Patriots had a couple iterations. This five-year

stretch by the Chiefs, three soup Bulls, bend to another and lost it, been to six straight AFC championship games. It's as good of a run. Some of the warriors, and the difference of the Warriors, I mean, they got Kevin Durant, so of course they weren't going to lose. Some of those Yankee teams, they had unlimited money, they were buying players. The way they've done it, this is a lot, very similar to the Patriots. They made some tough decisions. It was coaching development led by star quarterback, led by intelligence, led by character. The other thing with my guy on the Chiefs, and this is where I think the two teams have a lot in

common, the character on these teams, how hard these guys work, how into football they are, how much they care about football, how serious they take this. This is not some screw around. Half the teams in the league, I mean, some of their best players are not dependable guys on a seven day a week basis. That is not the case with the Kansas Chiefs. It's not the case with the 49ers. It's why these teams are kind of consistently winning, right?

And obviously the Chiefs have that added element with Mahomes, which is kind of their Trump card right now. But the football character that was on display in this game was something I would imagine every GM when they go in a couple weeks, the Combine's going to go. You start interviewing these guys because it is easy. It's like, well, look at how many plays this guy can make. Well, he's got about seven red flags. His offensive coordinator in college wasn't a big fan.

And they don't overlook that stuff. or they make sure that that's a non-negotiable because you get in the fourth quarter and overtime in your 21st game of the season, if you're not locked in, if you're not into it, if you haven't been training all year long, you have no shot.

You have no shot. And that's the one thing, Andy, who's always been, he had a little Al Davis to him at moments in his career. They are not screwing around in Kansas City with guys that just are like that.

You know, It's one of the things about the NFL that I think you and I appreciate this is that I think it's a really well-run league. And I think it's easy. A lot of people in the media, a lot of newspaper people tend to be precious. And they're kind of anti- Goodell was getting crushed last week. He was getting destroyed. What are we talking about?

People just don't understand. Everything is up. They handled, you know, the Kaepernick situation. They, you know, not easy for a league. Black Lives Matter. Those are big social movements. Those are not easy to navigate. And I think about 70% of players, NFL players, African American, he's navigated that.

Players like him, corporations like him. They're, you know, I know having talked to people at networks, they're tough. But. Rightfully so. You've got a product you want. But if you start looking at how smart they've been with moving, extending the draft, moving free agency, putting stuff on Christmas. You know, I saw the NBA trade deadline was during a Super Bowl week.

What are you doing? What the effort are you doing? Baseball gives it to awards like two months after the season. They don't give them on the same day. There's no buzz. Like, it's all of a sudden out of the blue year, like, oh, that guy won the American League MVP. You're like, four days later. If that guy won't come back player of the year, it's like, the hell are we doing here?

The NFL has done a remarkable job to own the calendar. I mean, if I was baseball, there's an opening. Sean McVeigh didn't play starters. It worked. Now, nobody plays starters. The preseason's dead. NFL's cut a game. They may cut another game.

It's just dead. Baseball, August is wide open. They'll never move on it. It's wide open. Guys like you and me, we take August off. It's like an off month. If you shorten baseball by 120 games and you start playoffs like August 8th, you own the month. That's what football would do.

That's what he watched the NBA get this big marketing day when everybody's home on Christmas and Goodell's like, no, we're moving games. So when I look at the NFL, there's a lot of reasons it's popular, scarcity, gambling. But it's really, it's made everything else niche and they don't, they navigate politics. They're good to their players, but don't pander and coddle. They've got mobility, but also loyalty. and I think they manipulate the calendar. And when I see these people get on Roger Goodell, I've had drinks with him once in dinner. He's really a good listener.

He's just always, what do you think? I remember I had him on the show like several years ago. It was before the Super Bowl with New England and Philly. And I said, Commissioner, I love your sport. I don't know what it catches. I don't understand what it catches. And he literally said on the air, he goes, Colin, it's a big problem. That Super Bowl, they literally switched it for the Super Bowl.

There were a couple of juggling catches by the Eagles in the end zone. They were touchdowns. And I don't know. I just, when I look at the NFL, in my business, you got to talk about it about 65% of the time. I think it's, I don't even know what the whole is. Like, I think it's a brilliant league and incredibly well run. You could argue that you could talk about it 80, 85% of the time and not skip a beat. I thought the criticism for him and a lot of big Js that were very, very angry at Roger

holding this press conference, not taking question, like, no one cares. The average fan does not care what Roger's saying. The other thing is no one associated with the NFL. Players, coaches, executives, owners, people like us that talk about it have ever had more success because of the popularity of this sport. Yet if you just poll the average person that writes about the NFL, they would say Roger sucks. And on the flip side, they would say Adam Silver is great. And listen, And maybe it goes back to he doesn't placate with him. He doesn't text many of them, maybe. I've never met the guy.

I don't have any dog in the fight besides. I like football. But the league, think about, how about this week is a good example. They were very, very against Vegas for a long period of time. My father worked for a big farmer back in the 70s that bought a Vegas casino. Do you remember that when you got there? He had gone bankrupt and he had bought it. And when he bought it, the guy comes up to him and says, Jack, we got three or four

rooms with basically the equivalent of Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro, and Ray Leota. They don't pay. I would just let them be. Those mob guys, right? In Vegas forever, 70s, 80s was probably shady. You go there now, it's corporate America, S&P 500. It is normal business. And what have the NFL done?

They shifted right there. And that's, that Vegas Super Bowl should happen every four years, max. I mean, you talk about a perfect place. It's made for that. And now they have the, how awesome did that Super Bowl look on television? in that stadium. And they, listen,

they were very adamant anti-Begas. Remember, Tony got in trouble. And then the law has changed, and they quickly pivoted, and they moved a team there, and they've never looked back. Yeah,

I think, and that's what people I talk to. I've always been partial to Miami, because it's just such a walk-around on Ocean Avenue and, it's Ocean Drive, and the, I think it's Collins Drive or whatever is behind it. I love just walk.

And by the way, it's like South America. It's cold in the rest of the country. It's even cold in California, Dallas, and then it's warmed out in Miami. But I always thought Miami did the best job. And Los Angeles is more than capable. But L.A. is a big city, and traffic's an issue.

Traffic downtown, because of that F-1 race, it really effed with traffic. Vegas has never had great traffic. But, you know, the other thing is about the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Go look up the 20 biggest hotels in America. 18 are in Vegas. You go to these places like the MGM. The biggest hotel in most American cities may have 6,450 rooms.

These things have like 8,000. I stayed on the 65th floor at the Cosmo. I mean, I don't know how many rooms the Cosmo has, but do the math. I mean, it's got to be a lot. So the city's just uniquely built. You know, I've said this for years. We don't move around Marty Grau, New Year's, Rock and Eve. We don't move around a lot of the awards that we see on TV and radio.

You don't have to move everything. I mean, this idea that we should have cold weather Super Bowls, you can't put a Super Bowl. We tried it in Jacksonville, for Christ's sake. I was there. They had to bring in ships. There was nowhere to sleep. I mean, they were having local. They had to call in 3,000 taxi drivers from like Miami and Orlando.

It was an S show. Put it in Miami. If I said the Super Bowl was there five straight years, would anyone complain? I don't think they would. It's just you don't never need to go outside. It's just, it's uniquely equipped for that. Yeah. No, I thought Vegas crushed.

I thought Goodell had another good year. They just navigate all the turbulence and social issues. I wouldn't be surprised if the same two teams are back. Okay, so let's do this. I thought Romo and Nance did have a good game. You know, it's funny, I don't, they're going to move. the deck chairs. I think the CBS pregame show, there wasn't a memorable moment. They're all nice guys, but I, it doesn't have a lot of oomph to me. It's kind of Fox has had that crew. It's like TNT basketball.

It's just better than ESPN's. What are you going to say? It's Barkley, it's Shaq. It's Kenny, attorney. I think the Fox crew's been doing it. You know, it's a little older in the tooth, but it's just good. It's been good for a long time. It's smartly produced, Bill Richards. It's great pieces, funny enough. And the CBS crew's okay to me. NBC at night, very okay to me. Oh, terrible. Yeah, I'm not a fan. But I thought Romo and Nance were pretty good. I think Nance is great.

And I think, you know, Tony is just kind of a squirly fun personality. Tony's the kind of guy that if you went out golfing with him, you'd have a ball. He'd tell you a million stories. And sometimes he can be a little bit loose. But I thought he did. I thought it was one of Tony's Romo's better broadcasts. I thought he started calling things very quickly. You know, one of the things he kept saying is, you know, he'd be like, oh, this drive hurts.

or he kept saying, I thought it was really smart. He'd go, okay, whatever you just saw there, that was a designed Shanahan play. He was calling that throughout the game. He would give the coach credit, not just the player. And that's important. There's a distinction there that we always give the quarterback credit. And he would say, like, at the end, he's like, that's an Andy Reid play. Mahomes is great.

That's an Andy Reid play. So what is your take? I think Nancy and Romer were fine. I do think once he signed that $17 million year, contract, he became a target. And once you're a target, it's hard. I think he got pigeonholed in the lane if he calls the plays, which is not a sustainable thing to do. And I think it is hard to be the goofier guy if you're not a little older. You know, John Madden, when he started calling games by the time I was a kid was in his 50s, right, or 60s, Grewden was already this massive

personality by the time he got the booth. When I think about Troy Aikman, I think he'll crush some people. Troy Echman's kind of an old school bat. He has that definitive lane. People kind of like that. Because a lot of announcers, the former players, they won't really be critical. Troy has no problem doing that. That's why it's my style. I enjoy that. Collinsworth is just one of those unique guys that I don't remember a play he ever made because by the time I was, he was already retired by the time I was probably 10, but he's just good. And you watch Tony sometimes. He gets loose. He's not really my style because he's never going to be that critical on moments where it's like, okay, Tony, but if you're not going to do that, you have to do something else.

And he kind of lost his fastball once he stopped doing the plays and people thought he was starting getting lazy because what's he doing? He's never going, well, that's a terrible call when it obviously is. I think most people that sit on their couch now, we've all watched a lot of football. Some stuff's pretty obvious. And when the announcers refuse because they were everybody's friends, they know these coaches, it's not that enjoyable, right? Why does Colin Coward have success? You're opinionated. You see something. You say it. And I think Tony was very hesitant to do that. In fairness to Peyton Manning, he's like, listen, I don't want to be critical. So he doesn't call the games, really.

He just does the thing with Eli. But if you're going to sit in that chair, if you're going to be Tom, it's going to be hard. Tom, people are going to want to hear you say, that's a terrible play call. Because we watched you play, and we know that your style, like you get mad. And Peyton does it actually sometimes too, and he immediately kind of goes viral because people like that. And I think Tony's always really struggle with that. Even day, he tries to play nice with both guys. Like, Jim, I think he should go forward here.

Just pick a lane, Tony. It's okay if you're wrong. But I think he's always very offended. He's always very hesitant. It feels like to offend the coach because he knows these guys well. They all text them. He's buddies with them. And that to me is my criticism.

He just won't say stuff when it's pretty obvious sometimes. I don't care about the play calls. I like having a little fun, whatever. But just say that was a terrible freaking call, Jim. That cannot happen in that situation. He's just never going to. Where Troy, I would say Troy, especially once Tony got a lot of money, has no problem laying the law down.

And people enjoy that. Imagine an Olympics. where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun,

thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. All right. I don't, I don't ask Rosillo to do this much. He comes on TV and I'll go on his podcast, but I don't want to get in his way. He's busy. He's a man of the people. And I don't want to get

in his shit. But I do like talking to him because on my podcast, we can talk about stuff. Look, the first thing he does is show the gun show. I mean, fuck, I got no shot here. I know it sounds, you'll remember this. So I always worry, you know, overreaction Monday, recency bias. I'm emotional. I watch these games. I get so key. And I can, you and I could sit and talk for an hour. about a game and you and I have had beers and we're just like it's like we're doing a show right because we love what we do but I remember years ago you'll remember this randy moss goes to the patriots he's there a couple of years it's very successful Monday night game against Miami they don't freaking target him and I went on the air the next day on the espion I said he's out time out you don't have

Randy Moss and not target it now you could target him 11 times with two completions it could be the weather it could he's out and I I remember at this point, I was still, like, reading emails and people were like, this, recency buy. Two days later, he was gone. And I'm like, sometimes it's not recency buys. You're seeing shit. And I remember that because it was like, you couldn't guard Randy Moss at that point.

You literally couldn't guard him. There was not, you had to roll coverage over. You could put Revis on him. It didn't matter. He got open. And I'm watching about two weeks ago. I'm watching three weeks ago. I'm watching Mahomes.

And I saw it again Sunday. day. And it reminds me of MJ. And I said this three weeks ago. I said, I think that's the best football player I've ever seen. And one of the things I remember this with Michael Jordan years ago, I was, I was on the couch at the time with a young lady. It was Vegas years ago. And it was the Phoenix Chicago series, Barclay, M.J. And she was a basketball player, so she really loved the sport. And I said, there's 50 guys in this league, Michael, as tall as Michael, as slender. He's not the best shooter or the best ball handler. I said, you should be able to duplicate that.

Nobody can. I'm like, he makes it look like so easy. I said, even the great players, Barclay, you could tell when he shifted gears, Clyde Drexler, you could tell Kobe's shifting gears. Michael would be like, he'd get bet these beads of sweat in his head and you're like, yeah, I think he shifted gears. that Michael was so effortless when he would flip the ball over his head when he was foul to do. And when I watch Mahom, I'm like, is he playing 80% speed? This is not, I can tell when Josh Allen and Lamar are trying. And I don't think it's overreacting.

I've never, I've never seen anything like Mahomes. I've never seen it. I haven't. You still think, look, he's, what he's doing at the position, because, you know, we can talk about players and then the resume, because we get really good at counting and you start adding it all up. It appears, especially with the throwing angles and all that stuff that he's more gifted at physical thrower of the football than Brady. But you don't have some of the same feelings that you had about Brady, where Brady in those

big playoff spots when he dropped back, you just went, oh, like, he knows. He's elevated his risk. He knows what he has to. Oh, they're not protecting. He doesn't have everybody getting open on the outside. Right. Like I would see Brady in these games decide, hey, these are the things that aren't going my way. Now I'll adjust to those in a way that I think it's a pretty short list of people that I think are even on that with him.

So I felt like Brady was a math. He beat everybody at the math that Tom could go to the line of scrimmage and he just did math. And he knew what you couldn't defend. He always had a very good possession guy, Dionne Branch, West Welker, Edelman. He almost always had a good tight end. Dante Scarnacchio, run game O line. He had protection. I felt what Tom was doing, and this is not a knock.

It was like chess. Tom was a math expert. He would go to the line. He knew what was coming. You couldn't throw anything at him. With Mahomes, he had a run in the Super Bowl where he ran and he late. It may have been overtime, fourth quarter. He cut through the D line and sprinted.

And there's something cognitively beyond math that his, like he could do the math too. There is something about his ability to see something and the ball is out of his hand quicker than anybody I've ever seen. That it's brain function into ability and to release. It's like Marino plus Tom. Oh, yeah, he runs better than both. It's just I watch him and I think it looks like it reminds me of Jordan. I'm like, is he playing at 70% speed? Well, yeah, I feel like I'm, disagreeing with you by just pushing back on that. We've never seen anyone have this composure throughout a game when I watch Brady do it for 20 years. But when you want to talk about his ability in the moment, he's a, he's a basket. Like, the reason I've always loved

basketball is that if you're really that good, you just figure out a way. You just figure out a way. Like, it's five on five. And, you know, you can double team me, but I got to get rid of the ball, then I'm going to come back to it. And within the shot clock, like, I got to figure out a way to make this shot. Because nobody great gets double team to the point. It's like, hey, that guy, he had zero points in the fourth quarter of a playoff game. Like, you find a way once all the plays are understood and everything's breaking down. And the other guy who can't shoot, throws it back to you.

And you have it with seven seconds off in the shot clock, huge possession game seven. You have to find a way. You're not relying on whether or not an infielder was positioned correctly. or if the pitcher had it or didn't have it if you're the cleanup hitter. You know, like that's so codependent. And even though football's the ultimate team sport because of all the moving pieces, like there's just so many other things that have to go into you making it work. And Mahomes has felt like the best basketball player.

Like he's playing football like a basketball player where I thought that game against San Francisco was incredibly hard for him. Watching the beginning of that game, that first half, I'm like, okay, the San Francisco D-line has shown up now in a way they did not show up against Green Bay or Detroit. They're up for this. They're amped. He doesn't have guys that can win on the outside here. You know, where's Kelsey?

Okay, there's a little bit here, there. They're running right up the middle with Pacheco and this Niners defense that was supposedly susceptible of that was shutting it down for a good chunk. And it didn't look like he was comfortable. And then we saw that stat where they've gone 17 straight possessions in the playoffs going back to the Baltimore game into the San Francisco game without a touchdown. Right. And yet you're like, he'll figure it out.

That's right. And he did. I mean, it's got. to be incredible you want to talk about sports fandom jealousy right now i mean how could anyone be higher than the chiefs fans like who there's no one that you'd be more jealous of knowing that that guys they're going to be there a long time and i agree with you that it feels like this one guy that can control a game where it's not supposed to be one guy that controls it basketball it's supposed to happen football it's not let's let's pivot to this so you and i go to a certain place don't

you know the 900 club in manhattan beach so i i ran into chip kelly a couple of couple of times in the last month. So I had a pretty good inkling that, you know, an offensive coordinator gig may be in the offing. The second thing is I ran into Lawrence Frank. I sat down to have a cob salad and a beer because I just worked out and I thought, eat clean, get home. Lawrence Frank is next to me, who runs the Clippers, really nice guy. And it was fascinating. Let's pivot to this. So as we kind of move into the NBA season, I told him, I said, But Lawrence, I said, I know you don't listen to your busy guy, but holy shit, did I miss on this? I was like, this hardened thing, give me a break.

Where's Westbrook going to play? The chemistry. And he was really interesting. He said, you know, at this point in James' career, shit, he wants to be coached and win. He got money. He got fame. He just wants to win games. I have watched probably six of their last seven games.

And I don't know if I told you this. It is the most enjoyable NBA offense, in my opinion, to watch. mid-range transition threes, multiple wing scores and defenders. I honestly think Boston and Denver and the Clippers, to me, feel different. The rest of the league. Now, the Clippers have some scoring on the bench. Celtics, Denver, don't really. But I've never said this in my life.

A, I was totally wrong. And B, I do feel like the Clippers could win a championship. I'm with you on thinking it could happen. But you're also telling me Kauai and Paul George are going to be healthy at the end of the year, which has not been a good health bet. They're the worst health bet of any of the contenders. But I did a pod probably a week ago after watching him go on this ridiculous stretch where you're like, okay, you know, this is, this is significant. We're talking about a 27 and 6 stretch. Although by the time we're taping this, it was pretty alarming seeing Minnesota handle them so well. And it's the second time they played him, which, you know, there's some matchup stuff with that that had me thinking about, wow. You know, they really bogged them down. But yeah, look, Kauai has played at a level that's almost like Pete Kauai again. And he's been playing most of the season. Paul George, who we knew put up massive numbers, was one of the 10 most talented players.

I thought he had a lot of playoff awards that were legitimate. I mean, he had an elimination game of Oklahoma City. It was terrible when they blew the 3-1 lead to Denver at the end of that. I mean, it was just bad. So it was kind of like, hey, is he one of these guys? And I thought once everybody else was gone and they took out Utah a few years ago, and it was all on him and he had no choice. he had no one else to even defer to that I think he's, I hope for his sake that he's turned

the page on that a little bit. But I was with the Unharden. I just didn't think he's somebody you'd want to get into business with. It had been the third team he had quit on, the fourth trade demand, which I don't really blame him for the first one because he wanted to make his money in Oklahoma City, wanted to pay Durant, Westbrook and Abaca. So that one didn't bother me. The end of Houston bothered me. The end of Brooklyn bothered me. And the Philly one, I mean, I thought he was, he was very peak in valley again. in the playoffs when they needed them most and they blow the three two lead to boston and i i've shocked people with this because they know i don't really like him and i don't like the way he's officiated

and all that so yeah none of it's really personal i don't know the guy maybe he's a grab it sounds like people love hanging out with him so he uh he thought he was getting the big money but he took 13 million less yeah and philly's adamant that nothing was ever understood and i'm always like i don't know a lot of guys that just leave 13 million on the table without thinking the extension is coming to make up for it. He doesn't play well enough against the Celtics. That extension now is whatever was talked about, depending on who you want to believe. But when he had been traded finally, Colin, even though Lawrence Frank is telling you,

hey, he wants to win and he wants to be coach. His first answer was, I want to go somewhere I can get paid. It just so happens to be a contender from an area that's close to where he's from and with an owner that has the deepest pockets of anybody. And I think the lesson in all of this is that hard and would have been super unappealing for a lot of other scenarios, where it's still a no for those teams. But credit to the Clippers, the culture, having the other guys established, he doesn't have to be the guy. He's probably going to get paid. And now that he's the third guy, he can have

those playoff duds, which are all over littered throughout his game log in his playoff history, where he could maybe even still have one of those, and it won't matter because the way the rest of the team is built. The volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate, and review. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement home. 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'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 Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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

Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.