The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - Prime Cuts: Greg Olsen on Russ Trade, Mike Missanelli on Harden Embiid Duo, Hurts Future & Best March Madness Bets

Episode Date: March 12, 2022

This is Prime Cuts! The best of the Colin Cowherd Podcast! First, Colin's top takes of the week (3:00), including why the Seahawks trading Russell Wilson is the latest sign of an organization in decline, what Aaron Rodgers' decision to stay in Green Bay says about his priorities, what Coach K and Michael Jordan have in common, and the biggest lesson NFL teams should learn from the Cowboys having to cut Amari Cooper.First, Fox NFL Analyst and 14-year NFL tight end Greg Olsen (21:00) on why the Broncos are everything Russell Wilson was looking for, why Greg was unimpressed with Seattle's offensive scheme during his season with the team, and when he realized Wilson was different than any QB he had ever player with.Then, Philly sports talk host Mike Missanelli (31:00) explains why Philly is already buying into the James Harden/Joel Embiid duo, the biggest factor in Ben Simmons and the Sixers ugly divorce, if the Eagles are going to build around Jalen Hurts or pursue a top available QB and how the Eagles will approach the upcoming NFL Draft .Then, the Action Network's Chad Millman (48:00) tells Colin if he's sharp or square with his NCAA Tourney title pick, and which teams the sharps like!Make sure you follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.

Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 tontons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of. too. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart 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 I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliver Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of 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.

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Colin Coward Podcasts presented by Fandual Sportsbook. No better place to bet the action than on Fandual Sportsbook during the football season. There's a lot of reasons. It's America's number one sports book. Incredibly easy to use. Super safe, totally secure, super fast payouts in as quick as two hours.

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Fandul Sportsbook app, sign up. This is Prime Cuts, the best of the Colin Coward podcast. Former Seahawk, Fox analyst Greg Olson. Some great firsthand insight into why Russell Wilson wanted a bolt Seattle for Denver. Philadelphia radio is Mike Misenelli, one of the best in the biz, told me why the Eagles will likely move off Jalen Hertz,

and why Philly fans get a bad rap. Also, Chad Millman, dark horse picks in March madness, but first my top takes of the week. Ownership matters. Paul Allen passed away not long ago. He loved the Seahawks and loved the NBA. and the Portland Trailblazers under Paul Allen's ownership were a viable playoff contender, got to a Western Conference finals.

The Seahawks got to a couple Super Bowls and were always a playoff team. He passes, his sister Jody Allen takes over ownership. She does not love sports. And in one year, the Seahawks get fleeced by the Broncos, finish and fourth, and the Blazers are essential. starting over. Ownership matters. Jody Allen allowed Pete Carroll, a 70-year-old defensive coach, to get too much juice, too much control of the Seahawks, and they are paying a price. You start looking around at these defensive coaches, Vic Fangio, Mike Zimmer, Pete Carroll, Ron Rivera. They don't see what's happening. They don't understand the importance of O-line play, elite offensive

coordinators, quarterbacks. Pete Carroll is the one that eventually signed off on this, not John Snyder. Okay, Russell Wilson wanted out, and Pete Carroll, who views himself very highly, fired twice before Russell Wilson, losing record in Seattle before Russell Wilson, signed off on this. And they get a couple of firsts, a couple of seconds, some decent players, Shelby Harris, nice defensive lineman. Not elite. No offense. Very nice tied in. Case of the drops, but a nice tight end. But Seattle has shown no indications over the last six to seven years of being able to draft well. In fact, there's an argument to be made that Seattle drafts as poorly as anybody in the NFL in the last half decade.

Go look at their drafts. Forget landing stars. They have struggled to land starters with their first round picks. this is an organization that lost a great owner, gave too much power to a coach. Pete Carroll is running the show, signed off on the trade, and I talked to a pair of NFL general managers today, one in the AFC and one in the NFC. Both said about the same thing. I thought Seattle would get more. So did I. If Seattle gets a third first round pick and a quarterback who is at minimum a bridge starter for a couple years, maybe we feel differently. Drew Locke is not only, not a franchise quarterback, he's not a bridge quarterback.

He is inaccurate, cocky, has a much greater opinion of himself than people around the league. Denver has no problem letting go of strong-armed Drew Locke. This was a slam dunk for the Broncos. The best quarterback won every division last year, every division. You can give up a lot of interior defensive linemen and nice tight ends and first and second round picks. You give up a Hall of Fame quarterback. Russell Wilson's been in this league 10 years, nine playoffs in the toughest division in football. I'm not even sure what equal value is.

it is not Drew Locke, a tight end, an interior defensive lineman, and four picks. To a franchise in Seattle, which has drafted so poorly, you have to go back to 2015, seven years ago to find the last draft where they got two really good starters, Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett. You have to go back to 2012, 10 years, to find the last time they got two stars in a draft. Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson, and they just let Russell Wilson go. Here's something else that's not being discussed. The Denver Broncos are for sale. Russell Wilson signing with Denver inarguably, this is something another general manager told me today. Russell Wilson drives the

price of the Broncos up $300 million. This is what LeBron did in Cleveland. This is what Justin Herbert's done to the Chargers. They're simply more valuable. Not only going from San Diego to the L.A. market, but from Phillip Rivers to Justin Herbert drives the price up. That's why the Spanos family can move closer to L.A. and build a massive practice facility. Spend that kind of money.

That's what SOFI is done. That's what the L.A. market's done. That's what Justin Herbert's done. Russell Wilson massively drives up the value of the Denver Broncos. Now, many people would say, oh, wow, look, look, this is a very tough division. What did you just leave? He just left the toughest division in the NFL, one in which he mostly dominated it for the previous seven or eight, nine years. Let's talk Aaron Rogers for a second, because I believe people tell you what matters to them with their choices.

So Russell Wilson told you it was about winning championships. He simply didn't trust a defensive coach and a team that couldn't draft consistently. To him, he was willing to go into a very tough division and a new conference because he feels and his agent feels the GM's better in Denver, the O-line's better in Denver, the weapons are better in Denver, and the defense is much better. He'll take on Mahomes, Herbert and Derek Carr. Russell's about winning. Aaron Rogers knowing he doesn't have an owner, knowing he doesn't have a second

wide receiver he can trust. We saw that in the playoff game against the 49ers. Aaron Rogers wanted the money. Aaron Rogers is probably now the highest paid player in the NFL. That's fine. I'm okay with it. But Aaron Rogers told you what mattered. He could have gone to Pittsburgh with a better defense. He could have gone to Denver with better weapons or Tennessee. Aaron told you, I want comfort and I want money. And it should be noted. It's an easier division. I'm not saying it's a bad move. But Green Bay will never, ever, ever be a top free agent destination. It will never be a top destination for players. Don't kid yourself.

OBJ, Vaughn Miller, happy to go to L.A. Matt Stafford chose L.A. It matters. It absolutely matters. Green Bay will never be that space. So Aaron Rogers has been passive, aggressive in the last several years, criticizing Green Bay. They don't sign this guy. They don't sign that guy. Nothing changes. They don't have an owner. They're not a top free agent market. Aaron was about the money.

Russell was about competing against the best with better weapons with a chance to win a championship. Brady told you that for years. I don't want to hear about his supermodel wife. Brady told you for years. It's about winning. I'll take less. I want to go to a place I can win more. choices tell me what you care about so coach k coached his last game at cameron indoor jerry Seinfeld was there and adam silver was there and a bunch of former dukees were there too bad duke didn't show up they got hammered by north carolina you know i tell my kids all the time that don't get discouraged because even for really talented successful people being really successful hard. You watch that MJ documentary. He was fighting with the owner. The GM, Dennis Rodman,

coaches. Phil Jackson was his third Bulls coach. He didn't make any playoff series as a winner. He never won a playoff series. Michael Jordan never won a playoff series without Scotty Pippin. And he's arguably the best basketball player of all time. Most of you think he's the greatest basketball player of all time. Couldn't win a playoff series without Scotty Pippen. The point is he overcame even for the great ones, it's hard. Coach K won over 500 more games than John Wooden. And if you read the book by Ian O'Connor, Coach K, he was almost fired. When he got the job, it was a shocker.

He was roundly criticized because he had a losing record at his previous stop, Army. The one-and-done culture gave Duke Fitz. And before Johnny Dawkins, you weren't really sure if they were ever going to be in the elite annual program. It was hard for the greatest college basketball coach of all time. It was hard for the greatest basketball player of all time. Michael Jordan retired in the middle of his career to play minor league baseball and then retired again and then came back again. All the greats coaching executives, players. It's not where you go to school. It's not just your measurables. To me, the common thread is Ola's fight and resilience. M.J. was resilient. Coach K. was resilient. Go read that book by

Ian O'Connor. It is remarkable the struggles for over 30 years, Duke had multiple times, teetering on the edge of irrelevance, and he overcame. You'll figure out very quickly in that book, the one thing Shoshchewski was, day one, a fighter. So a story last week, the Cowboys, according to Adam Schaefter, are going to move off expensive whiteout. Amari Cooper. I don't love the move, and I said that on FS1 and on IHeart Radio. Dak Prescott with Amari Cooper and Dak Prescott without Amari Cooper, with him and without him, he's two different quarterbacks. And without him, he's a B minus quarterback. With him, he's a B plus A minus quarterback. That's the difference between winning playoff games,

and losing them. But what do we learn from the Amari Cooper situation? Well, I've always had an opinion because I think many of you know that have listened to me, I would love to be a general manager of an NFL team. I'm certainly not qualified. But if I'd have spent 30 years pursuing that and not broadcasting, who knows? You know, maybe I get lucky. And if I ran a team, and I've talked to GMs about this, I would pay big money rarely with total discretion. And I would almost never pay early. A rare exception is Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson. You know, when you're looking at a guy that's clearly a Hall of Fame talent, arm, brains, movement, players like him.

You know, there's a handful of quarterbacks you just do it for. But the Cowboys paid Ezekiel Elliott not only early, two years early at a position running back that most shrewed general managers don't believe you ever pay early because it takes more of a physical beating than any other position that touches the football. You can't hit receivers, can't hit tight ends, can't hit quarterbacks like he used to be able to. You can still drill from any angle a running back. The Dallas Cowboys front office is now paying a price for a move that was very very easy to predict.

They paid a running back two years early. And now their second best running back is Ezekiel Elliott. I don't like this move. C.D. Lamb had one catch against the Niners, case of the drops last year. Michael Gallup's coming off an ACL surgery. Cedric Wilson's a three. They're going to have to go to the draft.

And because they were a playoff team, you know, they're not taking high enough in the first or second round unless they tried up to get really the top four or five receivers available. And Dallas is in a win now window, right? They're not into developing a slot receiver from the third round. They use a guy to come in and be productive. And there'll be maybe four or five of those guys. They're not going to get them. Don't pay running backs early.

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Download the Fandul's sports. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions,

my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind. the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger.

So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network, on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs

at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s.

To be clear, 84's big two, mean, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, 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. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you You get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kier Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough.

because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, our heart radio app,

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Visit 1-800-Gambler.net in West Virginia. It's the sound of another sale on Shopify, the all-in-one commerce platform I love to start-run and grow your business. Shopify gives entrepreneurs the resources once reserved for big business. So upstarts, startups, and established businesses alike can sell everywhere. synchronize online and in-person sales and effortlessly stay informed. I love Shopify. Have for years the tools and resources that make it easy for any business to succeed from down the street to around the globe.

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All lowercase, Shopify.com slash Colin, for a free 14-day trial, full access at Shopify's entire suite of features. Shopify.com slash C-O-L-I-N. Look for your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard with arms outstretched, to the sky. They see treasure

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If I could be you. And you could be me for just one hour. If you could find a way... To get inside. Each other's mind. Walk a mile in my shoes. Walk a mile in my shoes. Welcome to all in my shoes. We've all felt left out.

And for some, that feeling lasts more than a moment. We can change that. Learn how at belonging begins with us.org. Brought to you by the ad council. Let's bring in, and it's rather timely, 14-year NFL vet, Greg Olson, three Pro Bowls, Seahawks, Panthers, Bears, Fox Sports. Great pickup for us. So you know Ross. I know Russ.

I talked to him for about 15 minutes. He and his wife at the Super Bowl. I talked to his agent, Mark Rogers, at the Super Bowl. They clearly were not happy in Seattle. You talked to Russ in the last 24 hours. He has a no trade clause, Greg. Almost nobody in the National Football League does. There's seven players.

He's one of them. My guess is this is exactly where he wanted to go. Yeah, this story doesn't come out unless Russ has waived that clause. This story doesn't come out. This trade isn't pursued. without his blessing. And I think that's always been the arrangement that he had with the team.

I don't think, I think those stories of him going in with an ultimatum, like I want to be traded. I don't necessarily think that was true, especially last year. I think there was always an understanding that the team,

if the opportunities were ever presented and they were contacted by an organization or franchise that piqued their interest. It was out of the NFC, obviously not within the division. It was all those people said, oh, San Francisco,

no one's obviously trading anyone like his caliber within the division, let alone in the conference. But I think when an AFC team like Denver called, I think weeks ago, they go to his agent. They say, hey, would Russ entertain this? And I don't think they go through the exercise of what a trade would be like in this sense of, you know, the back and forth in negotiation without his blessing and without him being a part of it. So I think weeks ago, they reached out to him and said, hey, we have this on the table. We're not saying we'll do it, but can we continue to go through the exercise of exploring it? I'm sure.

his team said yes. And when the two sides came to an agreement that both the teams wanted, they finally had to go to Russ and say, hey, we need your final blessing to announce this, to authorize it, put pen to paper. And I think Denver was always one of those teams that intrigued him, right? He wants to go somewhere with a good team, a good roster, good offensive weapons, good on defense, just hired an offensive head coach this last hiring cycle with Hackett. So I think it checked a lot of the boxes that he's looking for. He's not looking to go to a rebuild. He's not looking to go somewhere where he's got to start from scratch. And I think they check all those boxes. Before Brady went to Tampa, we said really good defense, young in the secondary, excellent weapons,

average O line. The Denver Broncos, really good and young in the secondary, solid defense, great weapons, pretty okay on the offensive line. I really do believe this feels like Brady to Tampa. this team just needs a quarterback. Am I, am I, I mean, you did the Cowboy Bronco game. Denver beat them down physically for three and a half hours.

You've seen this team live. You've been in production meetings. I don't think I'm overstating it. I think Denver just needed a catalyst. Yeah, I don't think you're wrong at all. I think there's a ton of similarities between that. I think the key difference maybe with this situation versus Brady's in Tampa is just that division's a lot

stronger. I think the division Brady's competed in the last two years versus now what Russell's going to have to deal with it out there in the AFC West with the Chargers. I mean, that's a brutal division, top tier quarterbacks across the board. I think that might think a little change. But as far as young and dynamic on offense, guys to throw the ball to, good on defense. Obviously, you know, they lost Von Miller. They don't have a ton of pass rush. You know, that was always kind of a little bit of a sticking point.

Vic Fangio had that defense playing at an all-time level that week we saw him play. against Dallas. There's a lot of talk coming out of that game. Did that defense, and I know Fangio is not there anymore, but did that defense crack the code of Kellan Moore and that Cowboys offense? The people said, no, it was just one bad day. They blew the brakes off Dallas in Dallas. As you said, we called that game. And we kind of saw teams steal a little bit of that design. Of course, it's a different staff, different coaches, but the same guys. That defense has young talent. They're very good on the back end, as you just stated. I think it's a very legitimate comparison you're making, my only caveat would be playing in that division, those six games a year.

That's a tough sledding. I do want to address this. You were in that locker room. I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I've been highly critical of Seattle's schemes. I think it's antiquated. I think they run the ball too much with a bunch of B backs and an average offensive line. And I think it frustrated Russell Wilson to have to be the playmaker with a little bit of an antiquated offense.

It always fell on his shoulders to make a play. And I look around this league and I look at, you know, I look at Matt Stafford with the Rams and he had better weapons. He had a better offensive line. You know, a guy wants to be the man. He doesn't want to be the only man. You were in that locker room. Is it fair to say Seattle offensively was a little behind the calendar,

was a little behind the times? Yeah, for my time there, I don't necessarily think it was a personnel issue at all. I think we had a lot of good players. Dwayne Brown was a good player. We brought in Brandon Schell, who was, I think, underrated as a right tackle. He came in in the same kind of free agent class with me from the Jets. I thought he was a good, solid right tackle.

They had some young guys inside. They drafted the young kid, played left guard a couple years ago, D. Liu. But, you know, weapons-wise, Chris Carson's a stud. I know he dealt with some injuries this year, but that dude is a, he is as impressive a dude as I've ever played with. You know, obviously, D.K. and Tyler Locker, that's a real combo. I never thought they had a personnel issue. For my time there, I just felt like there was an ideological disconnect between what do

our best players do, Russell, D.K., Tyler, what are we built to do offensively? And what are we being allowed to do offensively? I mean, the conversations that I would have with the coaches, as we talked about scheme and philosophy, and again, I was there a short time. time and the amount of pushback and the amount of questions that I would get in return saying, you know, we're not sure if we can do this. I'm not sure if we can protect this. And I'm sitting there saying, I've seen this happen for over a decade in Carolina. You guys have D.K. And you have Tyler and you have a franchise left tackle and you have Russell Wilson,

who's that quarterback, both mentally and physically can handle anything. And I'd sit there scratching my head. It was like we were playing with a JV roster. It was like we were playing with a rookie undrafted quarterback. Like it was very interesting to me. I just think the ideology there was always defense first, kicking game, punt the ball, field position, forced turnovers, defensive led, and then they'd hand the ball to Russ at the end of the game and say go be magic. And I just always thought it was a very interesting disconnect that I never to this day have been able to wrap my head around. I just think it was part of Russell's frustration. I think it's why Russ said, I want to go somewhere where this is going to be an offensive quarterback driven team,

not just in the media, not just as the face of the franchise, but every Sunday with the ball in my hand, like Aaron Rogers, like big stars, Brady, that team was going to go how they went. And I think Russell wants a taste of that. I'm assuming that's why Denver's going out and making this pick. They're going to hand the ball to them and say, hey, let's build this system around what you're comfortable with.

Let's do what you're comfortable with. Lead us, be that guy. We feel like we've been missing ever since Peyton Manning retired. And I'll tell you what, they swung for the fences. I don't think it was a terrible trade. I don't think they gave up too much to get them. To get a guy like that, I don't think they leveraged the farm. And I don't think it could be a better match for both teams.

You had probably multiple high school quarterbacks, multiple college quarterbacks, and multiple NFL quarterbacks. Russell is statistically and winning-wise the best you've ever played with. What was the secret sauce? How many practices? How many meetings with Russell, Greg, before you went? Okay. this is a little different, there's a little more intense.

One. And I'll tell you, it's a funny story. So we were on like the brink of COVID. It was just starting to be a thing. It was March of 2020. I had just signed maybe a few weeks earlier end of February, middle end of February. I signed with Seattle. COVID was like just starting on the radar.

We had driven down to Florida for spring break. So this was like the second week of March. My kids were off of school. And I'm down there. And he texts me. He's like, hey, well, let's connect. sometime this week and start going over the playbook. They had sent me like an iPad with all the stuff. I was like, great, let me know when. I just thought the two of us were going to jump on a call,

you know, talk about formations, talk about different routes and just kind of as a get-to-know-each-of-it-to-know-it-of-a- kind of conversation. Well, little did I know. I went up to my hotel room, and he had his Zoom set up in his office with a whiteboard. He had half the screen with the playbook, like sharing his screen, half the board where he could write on it, talking through. Then he stepped back and he was taking me through two minute signals in his office like it was in the middle of the huddle. And I came down after, it was probably a good hour, hour and a half, right? So my wife's at the pool with the kids, it's spring break. And I come down.

She's like, how was it? And I said, I've played with a lot of really good guys, a lot of really talented guys who did it right. I'm not sure if I've ever been around what I just experienced. Like it was a really, really, this is. March, Colin. This is March. It wasn't even, we were a month away from OTAs, two months away from OTAs, let alone the season. It didn't matter if it was March on a Zoom call during spring break or the day before the Sunday game we played the Rams to end the season in the playoffs. Every single day, he was the exact same way. And I think that's the greatest compliment that I could pay them. The talent, the arm, the running, that's easy. Everybody, everybody can just see that with their own eyes. The greatest compliment I I can give him was it didn't matter the significance of that individual session. He never let it alter his approach. And I think that's like the best way I could sum them up. All right. We bring in somebody who does really good work and has done great work for a long time. In fact, I don't bring

other talk show hosts on my show very much. I bring Mike Miscellian on a couple times a year. He's got big opinions. He's smart. In Philadelphia is a highly competitive sports market. So to be able to win that market for years and years and years is really something. And Mike works at 97.5, the fanatic. It's as good as any sports talk radio market in the country, highly competitive and devoted fans. You know, it's funny, Mike, since I've moved to FS1, especially in the last three years, people have said, Colin, you're doing a lot of L.A. sports.

And I keep telling everybody, yeah, because all the teams here win. I would love, I talk about Philadelphia all the time on my show because you have, like, interesting teams. The Jets are terrible. The Jets are terrible. The Knicks are terrible. The nets are a mess. The Mets are a mess.

You know, it's funny what's happening to your neighbors in New York. It's just bad management, bad owners, bad teams. Conversely, Philadelphia is kind of fascinating. So let's start with the Sixers. We said on our show, I thought, I said, listen, I like the coach. I like MBE. I like the talent. I like the chemistry.

It's a winning culture. I thought Hardin, when engaged, you know, there's some Kobe analytics here. He's virtually unstoppable. Are you a little surprised how seamless, how quick, how joyful it looks? Yeah, first of all, good to see you, Colin, and thanks for the kind of words. This town's upside down right now. And it took the first three games with Hardin in the lineup to get this flow going. And the energy here right now for this team, they lost to the heat last night and Hardin did not play.

But, you know, his first home game on Wednesday was just the roof was about to blow off. I think in Philadelphia, when you give these fans a team that they know is pretty good enough to possibly win something, the town just lights up. And also it helps to have a star. And in this case, they have two stars that are working together very well. Their spacing has been the most amazing thing that you can see right now. With those two guys in the lineup, they space very well. Their only flaw right now is the strength of their bench. But, you know, when you look back at all the teams that have won, their bench wasn't really that strong.

Their starters were really strong. So these guys are going to play close to 40 minutes once the playoff time comes. And if they can avoid that first round matchup with the Nets, which I think is a little precarious, this team can actually get through the NBA finals. I'm not a Ben Simmons fan because, Mike, I've always believed there's one thing you can't coach or teach indifference. It's just like your business. You love Philadelphia.

You love sports. There's a lot of guys with a good voice. If you don't love this stuff, it's too much crap with advertising. advertisers and management. And it's just, you've got to love it. Like, I don't get the Simmons thing. Give me stories. When did you just say, I'm over him?

Well, I think they are now. It's funny, when this thing first happened, it was just hard to comprehend that that one guy would be willing to blow up an entire season and an organization, frankly, keeping the organization kind of in limbo over this. But you're right about it. We had like four years to study the guy. He has absolutely no ability to self-evaluate. You know, when this thing happened, the reasons why he was criticized were valid reasons.

He did not take a shot for straight, fourth quarters in a playoffs, and they lost to an inferior team. So when Dr. Rivers said what he said, I know that's going to rub a player the wrong way. And he probably shouldn't have said it. But a guy with self-evaluation should be able to look at and say, you know what, that hurt. but maybe he's right. And I've got to do some things to change it up because he's just absolutely paralyzed in a game to take a jump shot

and doesn't realize that that's wrong. You know, it was always everybody else's fault and not Ben Simmons. And you go back like psychological, but I hate to play, you know, psychologists, armchair psychologist, but he was raised to be a prince of sorts. He was like the prince of his country.

And his parents, I think, were very much enablers with his talent. And he was the next thing that that was going to come. And so I believe that his brain has hardened into the point where he does not think he has any flaws at all. And to just hold out for an entire season, just not realizing what that was going to do, not only to hear that it's so obvious, but his own career was just mind-boggling of me. Yeah, there, you know, there was a scouting report when he left college that said,

he wasn't always highly competitive and crucial moments. That is a total red flag. The fact that he's ducking the game against the Sixers is a complete red flag to me, right? Oh, it's totally. But, you know, as soon as that he was traded, there was no way that he would, you know, everybody here, there's no way that he was going to make that game, although people did get sucked into buying $500 tickets for that game. And there's no way he's going to face this kind of music coming back.

after all that had happened. But, you know, just the progression of the whole thing was just so ridiculous. Like, he showed up because his agent said, if you don't show up and take part, they're not going to pay you. And so he came back and thought that they were just going to pay him. And so what he did was didn't want to participate in Dr. Rivers' practices or his drills and thought he was going to be able to get away with that. And then they said, okay, well, if you're not participating, you're not really,

satisfying the requirements of your contract. So you're not going to pay it. And then the mental situation came up. And it's really, it's tough to talk about that because it keeps you at bay that, you know, how can you make a judgment on how a guy's feeling mentally? But we all thought it was just a ruse for him to try to collect money. And it did. They started to pay him.

And then he said he was seeing somebody on his own. And then the Sixers couldn't verify that he was seeing somebody on his own. So they withheld money again. And he just didn't get it. And so he got what he wanted. He goes to Brooklyn. And now he's back because he thinks that in the NBA, it's just easy to miss a whole season and not work out and then come back and play at an NBA level.

So now he's got legitimate back injuries or whatever it is. But the Sixers, think about this deal. Because a lot of people said at the start of the deal, oh, how could you give up a backup center, it's valuable, drumming, and a shooter like Curry? Well, basically what they did was they traded Ben Simmons for a superstar and James Hardin. And as soon as Hardin's come, the fans really didn't pay enough attention to Hardin's game. What would say that out most of all about him?

He's a smart player. Now, he just knows what to do on a basketball floor. He's made everybody around them better, especially Tyrese who's going crazy right now. Well, that's the interesting. Maxie and he are an interesting because Maxi, by the way, wants the ball, highly athletic. I mean, he's an interesting player. Is there any concern that that could be agitating, that that may not be ideal? No, he's been freed up.

Tyrese with Hardin on the floor has been freed up to do what he does best, which is he's kind of a combo guard. And you saw him in Kentucky, he just flies. And Hardin creating space, it makes Maxie so much better. And he's fearless. And Hardin's kind of taken him under his wing. Half time the other day against that game on Wednesday night. Hardin goes up to him at a half time and says, all right, you ready to fly now? He had four points in the first half.

So in the second half, he just took charge. And Calapari was there. I was sitting right behind Calapari, who had come to see him in Emmanuel quickly and Randall and all those Kentucky guys. And, you know, he says this is the way Tyree's max he plays. I was talking a little bit. Just get him out in the open, get him out in space. When he has to be the point guard, he will.

And they've been doing that when they take hard now, they make sure they keep Maxi him on the fourth device hours. And he's just a fun. loving kid who loves to play the game with no pretensions at all. Yeah. Let me pivot to Jalen Hertz. So I've been highly critical of Tua in Miami. And my takeaway is he's not a playmaker with his feet and he's not a playmaker with his arm. He can't do anything off script. So if you're a little smaller than ideal size, you've got to give me something special. I defend Jalen Hertz saying a little small, I don't think he's a great thrower,

but he is absolutely too productive as a playmaker not to give another year. That's my interpretation. But in Philadelphia, what are they saying about? Well, you're probably right when you look at it logically. Really, because I don't think the Eagles believe that. I think the Eagles, if they had a chance to make a deal, Russell Wilson's been their white whale. They didn't draft them.

They were sorry they didn't draft them. They've loved them ever since. I don't think he's going to be available. But they've been also interested in Deshaun Watson. I think that they do want to upgrade the position. I don't think they have total belief in herds. And I don't think he played to that level where you go, you have total belief in him. Now, if they don't do anything else, he's obviously going to get one more year to do it,

which is interesting because in the draft, they have three first round picks. whether they save one of those picks for next year when the quarterback draft will be a little better than it is this year is the question. So I don't believe they will draft the quarterback. I do believe that Hertz will get one chance to do it. But it's funny that you bring up Hertz because when they drafted them,

I thought it was the biggest organizational failure I had seen in Philadelphia sports because of the Winston just crashed and burned on them. And one of the linchpins was it that they drafted Hertz. And Winsk really did not take it well. And so they didn't figure that would happen. And the Wentz thing just blew up. And so when it blew up, they had the biggest salary cap hit in the history of football at $38 million.

That's to me not a success. I always thought the Eagles were well run. And then over the course of a year, you hear the Doug Peterson story, the owner meddling, Howie Roseman. And we heard some of that with Chip Kelly. But hey, he's a college coach. And Chip's an odd bird. And I like Chip, he's an odd bird. So, okay, that's not, that's Chip.

And then Doug Peterson, who's kind of liked. I mean, most of my NFL guys, they kind of like Doug. I mean, is he a great coach? He's kind of likable guy. And then you hear stories. And again, there's meddling. And it's like, is this a shit show? Like, do they know what they're doing?

Do they know what they're doing? So I want you to give me a Philadelphia view. How is ownership in the front office view? Because I, when Nick Suriani held this press conference initially, I thought it was embarrassing. I didn't even know what to say. So did wait. And we had a blast with it, by the way.

But it's really an interesting dynamic here with this stuff. With Jeffrey Lurie, I believe, likes to get involved. And at first, it didn't seem like he did. The theory is that Hertz was his pick. That Roseman really wasn't on board with taking Hertz in that position. But Lori's one of these guys that will watch college football on Saturdays and think that he knows something that he really doesn't know. And I think he's had a lot of input because of that. Now, Roseman is strategic in that he knows he's the trusted voice and Lori believes him.

So his brilliance is to convince Lori that he really knows what he's doing. And so the Lori has eminent trust in him. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only living. 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,

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Search learn the hard way and listen now. His drafts have been horrendous the last three years. And everybody is nervous here that with three number one picks in that I call it the danger zone because it's the teens going towards 20 where Roseman has made a lot of mistakes. So it'll be interesting to see what they do here. I'm a draft, Nick. I'm a dork. I love it. I love college football.

Philadelphia is not a big college football town. I grew up in Seattle. The Huskies won a national title. I was a USC fan. I worked in Tampa, so I followed the SEC. And I've been to a lot of these stadiums. I like it. You know, I grew up with it.

I like it. It's a bad draft. I have a lot of NFL executives and scouts I know. Everybody wants to trade down. It's just a bunch of B players. I think the kid out of Michigan, the pass rushers, probably your safest bet, but he's not T.J. Watt. I mean, there is no Fletcher Cox in this draft.

There is no Aaron Donald. There is no Chase Young on a defensive front. And I kind of look at where the Eagles are poised. And I think to myself, as I watched them last year, I'm like, they got into the playoffs. Hertz probably in Nick Seriani, probably 10, 15 percent improve. The division is still weak. And I'm like, can they get three starters? I mean, you have an elite corner.

You kind of have to rebuild a little bit your line play. It's old. Like where in not a great draft, though you have a nice supply of picks, like where would you say, okay, here's three picks, go in this direction? Well, I don't know where they're going to go, but they're very line oriented. So, and you're right, I don't know who's going to. They need a pass rusher badly. And, you know, Derek Barnett is probably not going to be back.

He had Brandon Graham come back from terrible injury and he's old. So they desperately need a pass rusher. And they're probably going to take who's ever left on the board, whether that's a or that's Corlopto's Purdue or the kid from Florida State that they like that the senior ball. So I believe that will be their first round pick. They also need a corner. They need a linebacker more than any other team in the league and they just won't pull the trigger on a linebacker in that spot. So I wouldn't expect that they'll go linebacker.

If they keep three picks, which I doubt, they would probably go, two of them will be defensive. But they'll also be intrigued to take a wide receiver in that position. If they do that, Howie Roseman admits that Jalen Rager was a failure. And I'm not sure he's ready to admit that. So I know your guess is as good as mine, but they need defensive players. And a lot of people here want them to take three defensive players with those three picks. But I don't think that's going to happen. I think they'll trade one of those picks.

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Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. All right. Let's bring in Chad Millman, Chief Content Officer Action Network, Sharper Square, all numbers according to Fandul. So before we get into football, which we will, the difference between casual sports betters and sharps to me has always been college basketball. The really sharp guys can feast on it because there's thousands of games. The sportsbook can't watch and monitor all of them. There's money to be made. So here's the depth of my college basketball.

I've watched Kentucky play four times. Okay, four times. Really, really good offensively. They're gone Zaga offensively, but more force. They have more physical. So offense wins a lot in this tournament. there are teams. We see these that just over the course,

you have to win this tournament, you need six games. You can't go dry for a game. You've got to have scores. That's why Gonzaga has so much damn success. They don't play real defense. They're never physical. They're just really slick offensively. They score 95 a game.

They get to the tournament. That goes down to 85. That's why Gonzaga keeps winning. It's not because they're the best athletes or NBA guys. They score. They've got a system. So this is a real offense for Kentucky. I know they're not a dark horse.

they're plus 800. But that's my, Calipari wins his second title, is my hot take going into March Madness. What say you? Look, it's really an interesting take. And you think about the fact that Calipari has only won once. All these teams over the years,

whether it was, you know, UMass or with Marcus Camby, or Memphis with Derek Rose, and now Kentucky with the, the years and years of all Americans and sort of the one and done talented he's had. The fact he's only got one is actually astonishing. And it's not a bad choice. Like, not just because at eight to one look, like, no professional better is going to say to you, yeah, take the eight to one number because they like odds that are longer.

That's just how they like to play the game. But what's really interesting about Kentucky is they're playing in the best. conference. The SEC by far. That is where you're getting battle tested, right? Like, Gonzaga is not getting battle tested. Gonzaga is at about three and a half to one right now. Auburn and Alabama this year, both really good. Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn. Like, those are four teams that can beat anybody as they have proven all year long. Obviously, Arizona is about six to one, right? Like the PAC 12, that's not scaring anybody. So then you got Kentucky. And then after that, like, it gets really interesting because Duke, no one's really

buying Duke. Baylor has been injured all year. Kansas has had issues. Auburn, while great, has then been inconsistent. You start to get down into that mid, like, lower tier. I do think Purdue is a really interesting team. But it's interesting. We fall in love with Big Ten teams because Big Ten basketball ratings get pretty damn good ratings. They really do. Michigan State games. Indiana games, Ohio State games, go look at the history, how many Big Ten teams get to the final four. I mean, even Izzo, total class program. I think we overvalue, here's why we overvalue big ten teams. We watch them more. Secondly, they've got so many great home court environments. In that part of the country, they like college basketball arguably more than the NBA. I mean,

These arenas are stacked and jammed. So the environment when you're watching Michigan, Michigan, State, Purdue, and Indiana is out of this world good. And it gets us kind of, wow, this feels big. Big 10 teams, I always feel like they're a little overvalued. When I was at ESPN, I walked into, you can remember this. There are these multi-purpose conference rooms, right? Oh, yeah. When the tournament comes around, they set them up like war rooms and there's huge screens

everywhere and food being ordered and everyone is just around watching the games, kind of working, but mostly watching the games. And I went down there. It was my first year when I had become, I had been at Earnchief of the magazine and then took over ESPN.com. And, you know, the people like when I took over, there was a divide, right? like ESPN.com, that was hardcore. That was daily.

That was hundreds of stories a day, thousands of stories a year. And like the magazine, we were dilettons, right? We're coming out every other week where like got a very precious product, all this kind of stuff. I sat down and I said to the college basketball editor for ESPN.com at the time who I just started working with. I'm like, Michigan State is overrated. Like never advanced the way you think. they would. Always number one, number two, never really get to the spot, always underperform. And everyone looked at me as if I was the devil who was coming from someplace that didn't

know anything about sports, moving into where they really talk about sports. And it turns out, that might be right. And you agree with me. That makes me feel better. All these years later, I feel better. Well, the SEC, our immediate image is SEC. But they have over the last 10 years had more success in the tournament. And that's without Kentucky being as good as we think. The last great college basketball team was Florida and Billy Donovan. That was the last great college basketball team. How about the run Arkansas had last year?

And Arkansas is another one. Like, you're going to be afraid of Arkansas. Like, it's just going to be a team that you're going to have to be looking out for. And you're totally right about college basketball being a professional betters. game. When I did the odds, which, you know, featured Alan Boston from Vegas, who you know, which I tracked these guys who bet on sports for a living, that entire book was about college basketball and about the interplay between bookmakers and gamblers and how that, those moments, the time when bookmakers are setting a line and betters are betting into that line,

create a cataclysmic event that reverberates through the entire sports betting world because it is billions of dollars based on these small decisions these guys are making. And it's the betters like Allen Boston, who at the time was one of the biggest and best college basketball players in the world, has an impact in a way that is much more far-reaching in terms of the betting community than the NFL because the NFL is just harder to win at. Yeah, it's, you know, one of the reasons I like Kentucky is I do think, like Baylor played real defense last year, but they had some NBA players as well on what made Baylor special is they could muscle Gonzaga late, but they had scores on the wing. You know, I've heard for years,

you can defend your way through the tournament. It's six games. You've got to drop buckets. You're going to face NBA players at some point in this tournament. You've got to score baskets. Nobody's stopping at the college level, a top 10 pick in the NBA. It's why Gonzaga to me that runs a highly, highly efficient offensive system. It's not they have the best athletes. They really, really know what they're doing offensively. And when I look at on Zaga this year. I've watched them about 10 times because Mark Fuse a buddy. I still look at this team that can get pushed around. I think they're just offensively. Watson can get you a bucket on the wing. They've got the homegrown the kid from Minnesota

who weighs about a buck 50. I think you can push them around. So I think I'm going to sell a little stock even though they're the odds on favorite this year. I think there's, I think Baylor gave you, and UCLA to a degree, gave you a little bit of a roadmap. get physical, get in their face, contest every shot, and Gonzaga gets a little uncomfortable. It's like you drop in Mark Fuse and Buddy, like on the show the other guy.

I know, I did. I'm listening. I'm listening to the show. You're like, Sierra came up to me at a super, at a dinner, at a restaurant. What was this at dinner?

I'm like thinking, where was he at? Because I saw him. the Wednesday of Super Bowl week at his party. And like, you don't even like to go out that much. No. You don't like the Hollywood scene. So where were you at where you saw?

Tell me. So I went to my wife and a friend. It was a wheels-up party. And I fly him three or four times a year. I'm not really a private jet guy. I fly Delta. I like veteran pilots with gray hair, tight pants, shirts that are buttoned up and pressed. I don't want to go too much.

And preferably military expertise. And they had thrown, they had flown 35 combat missions in Vietnam. Yeah. So I'm a Delta guy. But I go to the wheels up thing because I have friends inside the company and I go out a couple times a year. We take our dogs to Utah. Nobody cares about this. So I go to the party and it's a bunch of stars.

First of all, Alex Smith, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Montana. Two things became abundantly clear. I'm a really big deal. The second thing, so Russell comes in and I see Mark Rogers' his agent and Russell. And Russell waves, but he's got just getting mobbed. And as I go over to say hi to him, Sierra moves in front and says, oh, God, we love you, I love you. I didn't hear a thing after that. It didn't matter that she said, the show.

She's the best looking human I've ever seen. I'm not joking. I just, I was like, okay, well, I'm a. to go and have a piece of chicken palm fall to sleep and dream about what could have been with Sierra. Yeah. And yeah. So my takeaway is that was my Sierra party.

So I don't do this much, but I do think it's important that I sound like a big deal, the two times a year I see famous people. The currency you can get from one or two moments. because people extrapolate and they assume it's Colin Cowherd, he's famous, he's, you know, as Rusillo pointed out on the podcast, like people are buying Cowherd again. Like he's done the upswing, you know, he's like he's a media mogul all of a sudden, like, they're back in. His stock is right.

That's right. And so even if like you're spending. Most nights like me, with your notifications turned off at 9 p.m. And you're watching The Gilded Age on HBO Max because you love Christine Bransky. People think it's a mystery because. Yeah. I watch Manhunt on Acorn. Done.

My favorite channel, Acorn TV. If I hadn't already watched Manhunt, I'd probably be watching it. Oh, my God. It's so good. Yeah. So good. So I get it. I totally get it.

Like in Zoom, every once in a while, like, I'll pop in like, well, yeah, you know, I was at this event. And like, people are like, he's at, he's at everything, right? And I'm like, I'm not going anywhere. But I could say it once or twice and, you know, it carries. I get it. By the way, my wife never walks in when I'm doing a podcast, but since she looks like your wife, Chad, my beautiful redheaded wife just walked in. What can I help you with, honey?

She wanted to know if I need anything. Is that the best? She is lovely. No princess Oh good thing she didn't walk in her I was gonna say monologue Just in time

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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 headwriters, reader 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. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.