The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Dak Prescott, Cowboys, Cam Newton, Trevor Lawrence

Episode Date: June 2, 2020

Colin explains why Dak Prescott should get the franchise tag, why he feels the Cowboys are not as good as they are popular, why Cam Newton's health is not the reason he isn't signed, and why he is defending Trevor Lawrence. Guests include Nick Wright, Peter King, Stephen Jackson, and Donté Stallworth. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ah, here we go. It is a Tuesday. We are live in Los Angeles, and my hair is a mess. This is The Herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening, IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, listen, folks, between the lack of haircuts, the lack of hairspray in our building, and the lack of makeup people, this is what you get from me. No more apologies. This is what it looks like when I get up.

Joy Taylor's joining me. You're going natural, Colin. Yeah, this is, you know, I'm not going to apologize anymore. Well, there's a guy in Cal, L.A., he's a big, he's Ron Howard's friend, Brian Glazer, who's got the spiked up hair. It's kind of his trademark. So you've gotten to spike now? I'm considering it. This is what my hair does when...

It's like a little Jersey Shore. That's right. You know, summer's almost here. Laundry tanning workout hair. Okay, this is what I got, folks. This is all I got. And if you're listening on radio, go ahead. Watch TV. Make fun of me on FS1.

It's good to have. you in today. Emotional a few couple days. I do. We are 100 days away from the NFL today. For the record, baseball is going to figure it out. It's all optics and cosmetics here. You know, the players and the owners, it's all in the owner's hands now. They'll figure it out. We're 100 days away from football. And, you know, I was thinking about Dak Prescott. I'm just worn out on Dak Prescott. I'm just worn out. I think he's good, not great. I'd franchise tag him. I think the franchise tag is built for Dak Prescott. But it's funny because I saw a story yesterday.

I just didn't think yesterday, we just couldn't get to it. And there was a story about Dak Prescott, and they talked about the history of the franchise tag. And every time a quarterback gets franchise tagged, they don't stay with the team. Because it's a different thing with quarterback. You can franchise tag a receiver, a tight end, a center, a running back, a safety. And they can be like Pro Bowl. And it's okay. It's like, okay, okay.

I get it. I don't love it. But quarterbacks do not like to do. be franchised. In fact, Howie Long owe his jokes. You can't have two-star quarterbacks in the same room. There's not enough oxygen. Because quarterback's the only position in

football. There's really one guy per team. I mean, there's a backup and stuff, but there's one guy. You can have six receivers, three tight ends, five corners, eight linebackers, and every offensive lineman's got somebody ready to go once

you've got to ice your knee as a starter. But at quarterback, it's your team. Brady wouldn't allow his backups after winning Super Bowls snaps in practice. That's how competitive they are. I mean, NBA stars, they need each other. And baseball, everybody welcomes in this new star pitcher. But in football, one quarterback for roster that's really the guy or is all sorts of cats and dogs living together.

And so I looked this morning at all the quarterbacks who had been tagged. And it's funny, the Steve Young here, Kirk Cousins, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning. And look at the teams that franchises. him and Peyton Manning Colts and a few years later, he's in Denver and the Drew Brees Chargers and a few years later he's and then Michael Vic with the Eagles and a few years later they all leave. And it's the engagement ring. The franchise tag is the engagement ring of sports when you don't give a date.

You know, here's the ring. When are we getting married? Oh, soon, I promise. Is there a date? Not yet. I'm working on it. Can I date other people? No, no, no, no, no.

A little resentment. I mean, you like the idea. Now, San Francisco with Jimmy Garoppolo, he had only five starts. They gave him $137 million. So they gave him a ring and a date and set a wedding in the same day. Garapolo loves San Francisco. They love San Francisco. Dak Prescott's like, when's the date?

I've been here a long time. You can't just give me the ring. When's the wedding? Dax won a lot of games. Two times Dax won the division. And quarterbacks get very sensitive. Remember Kirk Cousins in Washington? Remember that reaction to

Kirk Cousins because he got franchise tag? Folks, he's like a fourth rounder. They had RG3. And here was his reaction. You like that. You know, I've always said this. What happens? The players, you know, they agree to the franchise tag.

And generally, owners beat players in all sports with negotiations because 32 billionaires are all coming for the same worldview and they all want the same thing. More money and a bigger chunk of it. Players, there are 1,700 NFL players. They're all kind of arguing over different stuff. For a veteran player, I just don't want to get hit as much. For a veteran offensive lineman, I don't want practice. The owners will always oblige the players on less practice, less hitting. Give us more

money. So owners always have an advantage over players. Older players just want less practice. They got $30 million in the bank. That's enough. They like to hunt, fish, golf a little. They don't need zillions of dollars to be happy. They got their kids. They got their wife. They teach their kids football.

They're with their kids. They're happy. Football players are happy. I don't need a million dollars. Give me $20 million in the bank. I'm good. I'll go back to my hometown. Buy a nice house.

Next to a lake. I'm good. That's a lot of NFL guys. And that's why owners generally beat players. Players after they play want to disappear and play golf, hang out with their families, do their stuff in their local community. Maybe teach football. billionaires want more money.

I think DAC is actually the perfect franchise player. A, I like him. I don't want anybody else to have him. B, he kind of regressed last year. And C, I just want one year with a Super Bowl winning coach. It may have been the coach, not the quarterback. But he deserves. No, you watch him last year?

His salary wasn't, his contract wasn't up last year. It's going to be up at the end of this year. and that's why he didn't look good, and that's why I'd franchise tag him. There are nine quarterbacks in the NFC alone, you can argue, are more talent than DAC. Aaron Rogers, Russell Wilson, Carson Wentz, Drew Breeze, Tom Brady, Jared Goff, Matt Ryan, Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Stafford.

You can argue are better than Dak. Not saying they are, you can make the argument. And here's the other thing to think about the NFC. Half, half of the... the starting quarterbacks in the NFC have started a Super Bowl, DAC has a single playoff win. If Nick Foles wins the Chicago job, my guess is he will. Brady, Breeze, Aaron Rogers, Russell, Matt Ryan,

Foles, Jared Goff, Jimmy G. Many of them young have started in a Super Bowl. Players agree to it. Players don't like it. And quarterbacks are deeply, deeply offended by it. The engagement ring of professional sports. You give the ring. You don't. don't give a date and quarterbacks don't like it. But I do think for DAC, it's fitting.

Speaking of the Cowboys, Troy Aitman talked yesterday. Now, I've always had this thing about the Cowboys. Because their games are on television, and I did this as a kid, the Cowboys were popular when I was a kid. Now, there were other teams in the NFL that felt almost as popular. The Steelers were great in the 70s, the Niners in the 80s. But the Dallas Cowboys, they didn't get the label America's team like last year. They've had it my entire life.

They've been called America's team forever, the star in the helmet, when I was a kid. And cowboy players, because they're on television every week, you know what they make, you see them on commercials. We always elevate how good they are, just a little bit. We give them about 15, 20 percent of love that we wouldn't give a great player with the Jaguars or the Titans or the Chargers. So Troy Aikman yesterday was talking about how good Dallas's talent is. Here's Troy Aikman. This is a team that really needs to go prove it out there on the field, and they're talented enough, as I said earlier,

comparing the Cowboys with the other teams that we cover across the league, and I saw virtually all of them doing the Thursday night package as well as the Sunday package for Fox. The Cowboys are as talented as any team in the NFL. There's very few coaches, I believe, that wouldn't have swapped teams with the Cowboys because of how talented they are. So now they've got to live up to that,

and it's hard. And that's my question. Are they? Are we sure? So I thought this morning, I'm going to list the 10 best Dallas Cowboy players. Two of them are really unbelievable. Could be the best player in the NFL at their position.

Zeke, the running back, Zach Martin, right guard. Those guys are arguably the best players in the league. Then there's four guys I like a lot. Jalen Smith, Tyron Smith, though he's getting old. Amari Cooper, Demarchus Lawrence. I like Amari Cooper better than most. I get to seven. It's Leighton Van der Leyen Wendresch.

Mega talent, but hurt a lot. I'm not sure who eight is. Michael Gallup? Maybe. So I got seven guys, and the seventh, I worry about health. Let's just take the team nobody talks about in Los Angeles, the Chargers, and list their 10 best players. Joey Bosa, Derwin James, Keenan Allen, Melvin Ingram, Trey Turner, Mike Williams, Casey Hayward, Hunter Henry, Chris Harris, Austin Echler.

Austin Echler is 10. He had 92 catches, 11 touchdowns, and almost 1,600 yards. As a running back, he was the best receiving running back in the league. Desmond King doesn't make my top 10. He was a pro bowl corner, all pro, excuse me, which is actually better. he was all pro corner last year. Year before, 2.18. 2018, Desmond King doesn't make the top 10.

He would be Dallas's best corner. In fact, to show you the gap between the Chargers and the Cowboys, and I have the Chargers finishing third in their own division this year, KC, Denver Chargers, Derwin James, Casey Hayward, Chris Harris, and Desmond King would all start for Dallas in their secondary. Desmond King's their fourth most talented defensive back. He would be Dallas's most talented defensive back.

In a passing league, it sort of matters. And Dallas doesn't have a pass rusher like Joey Bosa and not nearly the receiving debt. They don't have the receiving depth at all. And the Chargers also have an elite, an elite, tight end. And that's just the second team in Los Angeles. nothing against Troy, but I tend to think we do this a lot with the cowboy. Is if you see something, Bob Gibson's a legendary former Major League baseball pitcher,

top 10 pitcher of all time. He used to say, you know, pretty girls and great baseball catches. The last you see is always the greatest. You covet what you see. You see more of the cowboys than anybody else. They're on television every week. I mean, networks fight over them. Fox, NFL Network, Monday Night, Football.

football, CBS, every time the Cowboys are on. So when you see something over and over, you tend to be, oh, that's great. No, it's just the last great thing you've seen or the last good thing you've seen. I'm not saying Dallas doesn't have talent. I don't even think they're close to the Chargers. I'm not sure they're the Rams. I definitely don't think they're as talented as the Eagles. Do you?

Am I wrong? when you see something all the time and you know what they make and they're elevated by media, there's this misconception Dallas is super talented. I don't think they're a top five team in the NFL. I don't think they have as much elite talent as Cleveland. I don't think they're close to Kansas City, San Francisco, New Orleans, or Baltimore. I don't even think they're close. Maybe I'm wrong.

A hundred days out from the start of the NFL season. More Cam Newton defenders on the horizon, among other things. Nick Wright will be joining us this hour. Peter King, Stephen Jackson. Thanks for joining us on a Tuesday. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed the game.

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I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it 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 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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 get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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Whether you're working from home or working on your fitness, you want to hear your music, not your roommates. Raycon's wireless earbuds are the way to go, oh, 15% off your Raycon. Order by Raycon.com slash H-E-R-D. There's all sorts of stuff here. I mean, I have so many.

Brady Quinn says Baker Mayfield is going to be a top 10 quarterback. I'll get into that. Baseball ownership, payers, players, owners arguing over that. Ryan Clark says Trevor Lawrence is not transcendent. Oh, brother. A hundred-day. Peter King has his he ranks every team in the NFL.

Cam Newton remains unsigned, as coach said, it's all health. Let me just say this about the health thing. A lot of times people just don't want to be honest about stuff, and so they make excuses. It's like back to the engagement thing. Well, we'll get married over time. If somebody's into you, here's the ring, let's get married.

The whole thing about Cam Newton's health, don't forget, Joel M. Bid was defined by getting hurt. He got a max deal. Joe L. Embed played 31 games because he couldn't stay healthy. Got a max deal. Why? There's nothing else like him on the market.

Aaron Rogers got a max deal off his second collarbone surgery. Carson Wentz got a deal after back-to-back years in Philadelphia. He couldn't finish the season physically. There's bidding wars for Kauai Leonard. We came up with a term for him. Load management. There's bidding wars. Anthony Davis, they'll be.

bidding wars. He can't stay healthy. You think if Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson was on the market, we'd talk about health. Ron Rivera saying, you know, the only reason Cam can't get a job, it's health. No, it's not. That's just not true. We're giving people athletes, 130,

$140, $150 million contracts. Anthony Davis struggles with health. Kauai Leonard, Aaron Rogers, Carson Wentz, Joe L. Ambide was defined by injuries. Sixers are like, we'll pay for him. There are so few transformative athletes. When you get them, you just pay. You worry about the injuries later.

You figure, you know, medical staff, new stuff coming down the pike, we'll just keep people healthy. Here's the reality about Cam. He's not as talented as everybody thinks. If you go look at Cam Newton since the Super Bowl season, he's got an 82 passer rating, he's completed 59% of his throws, he's a 500 quarterback with 65 TVDs and 44 picks. That's what he is.

And Ron Rivera's not a bad coach. Some of those years were Christian McCaffrey. DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel, Greg Olson, people who are on the market, they would get multiple bidders. Trey Turner, Pro Bowl Guard. There's players everywhere. That's why Matt Ruhl took the job. He's like, oh, we got players here.

Just give me a quarterback. We're making excuses on this. The health thing is a bunch of nonsense. the coach of Washington used to coach Cam. He went and got his backup, who has not half the talent of Cam. Why is this? Cam's not as good as we think. Early in his career when he can run, wasn't as banged up,

there was something there. A lot of people in the league were still like, yeah, can you win long term? Okay. But since the Super Bowl, he's average. He's average, that's what he is. I don't buy the health stuff. It's like saying you see it all the time in Hollywood. I mean, Robert Downey's career,

There was drug use, bad behavior. He's talented. You just pay Robert Downey. We've seen this throughout the history of Hollywood. There's all sorts of actors who have had problems. They're difficult. I mean, the Russell Crow stories, he's difficult, he's throwing phones. He gets jobs.

Because there's so little, rare, top of the market talent that you just roll the dice on it. He's got a temper. I know, but he's talented. Well, he's hurt a lot. Well, he's got talent. She's difficult. Well, she's talented. That's every industry I've ever worked in.

Every industry, everybody I've ever worked in. If they're talented, you find a way. Cam's just not as talented as everybody thinks. You think Lamar Jackson rips up his knee. Nobody's bidding. Patrick Holmes's already been banged up. You think nobody's bidding? You just find a way to get him.

Joy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. As the NBA moves towards a plan of inviting 22 teams to restart in late July, small market teams are urging to lead to consider including everyone. During Friday's Board of Governors call, Thunder owner Clay Bennett reportedly expressed concerns about teams being left out. He said nine months without games could have could have a negative impact on developing players, cultivating sponsorships, and selling tickets in smaller markets. And several owners backed Bennett's call for the league to bring back as many teams.

as possible. I'm tired of the small market thing. Small markets have done great in the NBA. Oklahoma City has been relevant since they went to Oklahoma City. The Pelicans now have Zion, Memphis, John Moran. Portland's always a borderline playoff team. Sacramento stinks. So do the Knicks and the Clippers for 20 years. Those are not small markets. Right. Like Washington's a mess, big market. New York's a mess, big market. Clippers for 30 years amass, big market. Lakers until LeBron came. San Antonio is a small market. They're not going to have. have a problem selling tickets. Yeah, I just, I've never, I mean, it was the big market Philadelphia was tanking years

ago, not small market Oklahoma City. These small, Indiana's always in the playoffs. Nor are they going to have a problem getting people in the seats as soon as everything is back. Yeah, that small markets. The ticket thing and the sponsorship thing, I mean, sponsorships are going to be what it is because the economy is going to dictate that. And as far as ticket goes, all those small markets that you mentioned have very loyal followings regardless of what's going on.

Now, the player development thing, okay, but that's the environment that we're in. My question is how much more complicated is going to get? Isn't the point of all this to limit the amount of exposure and how many people we're bringing together? Like, are we going to be able to bring all the teams down to Disney World to do this? It doesn't that complicates things tremendously. I went to a Utah Jazz game this year. It's like college. You can't get a seat.

If I said five best run teams in the NBA, I could argue San Antonio and Yucle. Utah are two of the top four. They're small markets. Well, also, if you bring back every team, everyone keeps saying you need time to get back in shape. So that prolongs the amount of time that you're going to need to take to get everybody playing these games again, more exhibition games, because every team needs to play exhibition games

before you can go into the regular season to then get into the playoffs. And we haven't even started it yet. Like, this is happening now, and we're working into this to get done at a particular date. There's always that Milwaukee forgot them, number one seed. Can we stop about market size in the NBA? By the way, Atlanta can never seem to quite get it right. Washington can't get it right. In Atlanta, it's not a small market.

That's what I'm saying. The markets in the, if you look around to the NBA where you're like, New York can't get it right. Some of the most dysfunctional teams are in the biggest markets. Always. It's been like that my whole life. The small markets, when I was in Seattle, Portland and Seattle, when they had a team in Seattle, are those big markets? I mean, Portland's always well run. They've always got a viable franchise.

Well, Silver's response was that some franchise. and players are far less invested in the risks and reward of returning to play just regular season games. So the health and safety, obviously, of bringing back all 30 teams impacts the decision. So the Steelers have not brought in a veteran backup this offseason on our going all in their faith on Ben Rothesberger being fully healthy. But if he isn't ready to go week one or gets injured again, they would have to fall back on Mason Rudolph and Devon Hodges for the second straight year. And those two backups did keep Pittsburgh afloat and got the team to an eight and eight. season, but CBS Sports's Ryan Wilson knows that the lightning isn't going to strike twice. And the Steelers could be in trouble if Rothensberger has to miss any time.

Big Ben has missed at least one start in four of the last five years. Here's a story that has now been confirmed, which I have been told for years. Big Ben doesn't grind in the offseason. It's not who he is. So this is why I'm out on Pittsburgh this year. I don't know if Big Ben's going to be in great shape. And frankly, over the last two or three years, he puts up. numbers, but I don't feel like this organization in big spots, what they used to be when I was

growing up in the last 20 years was kind of a step-up franchise in big games. I don't feel like that now. I just don't. So speaking to Cam, this has always been the Cam spot. Like this is, this has always been the obvious place. Right. This is, this is the place. And Big Ben's a star, but, you know, Big Ben's got his insecurities. I don't want to deal with it. And Cam doesn't want to take a backup role, which is, which is Cam's prerogative. And he has, this is, he has. every right and the ability to wait for a starting position. I just feel like the Steelers are always a very well-run, respected organization. Obviously, they are a championship-level organization, the expectation every single

year is to win a Super Bowl. That's how it goes. But they've just kind of been a middle-of-the-road team for the past couple years. That was a complete and utter disappointment having Levium Bell, Antonio Brown, and Ben Ruffisburg are on the same team together. You should have had more success with them. That's just the bottom line. that's no longer the ensemble there.

So what is the plan? And this is a very fair question when we've been talking about for weeks. What's the plan of Ben Rothesberger goes down? You're going to go back to Mason Rudolph and Delvin Hodges? Now, if you didn't know what they were, okay. You're like, you know what? We have these guys. We feel like they're strong enough backups.

We haven't seen anything from them. So it's a mystery. Well, there's no mystery. We know exactly what those two are. Finally, most reports indicate that the dolphins are planning to start to week one this season. Rob Vinkovich was with Brian Flores. for eight years in New England.

And he thinks Slores will take a more cautious approach and not start the rookie quarterback right away. He said he's not going to try and push him in a position too quickly. The game of football is very mental. Confidence goes a long way. If you're pushed out there too soon and you lose a little bit of that vital confidence

that can affect you, I would think Brian Flores has a great plan in place. He's going to use a veteran quarterback and hopefully too, it can learn from the veteran quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick. Here's the problem, though. When they go two and three to start the season, the fans are going to demand Tua.

This is the reality is that I've seen in my life fans demand Tim Tebow. Okay. I've seen... I've seen Dolphins fans demand Matt Moore. I know disrespect to Matt Moore, who's an excellence backup quarterback. But he's a career backup quarterback. You're going to start seeing video leak out of Tua at practice. Because remember, practice video in the NFL is going to be gold this year.

It's going to be gold bars because we may not have... We may have a truncated... I mean, we don't know what's going to happen. So practice video... will be discussed on networks like this one a lot. When the video on Tua gets out and fans in Miami see it, they go in demand, we got Tua starting the football game. They're not going to sit around and go.

And then you start losing a couple early games because Miami now is interesting in that division without Brady. So there will be, I believe there'll be public pressure in Miami when video gets out in Tua. I mean, I saw a 12-second clip about a month ago, and I'm like, okay, it doesn't look like Ryan Fitzpatrick. I am on this side of it. I would like to see Tua sit a year. I think it would be helpful for him.

I'm not in that camp when it comes to Joe Burrow. I wasn't in that camp when it comes to Baker-Mayfield. If you're the number one overall pick, whether people feel like you should be the number one overall pick or not, I think you should start. But you're absolutely right. The pressure is going to be mounting. Miami's an event town.

They like events. Tua playing is an event. Eight home games with Tua. He's too much of a star. He's a star and Miami loves that. Miami's got a beach. Once you have a beach, people have options. They want events.

You've got to wake them up and tell them this is special. Absolutely. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Ly News. Co-hosts of First Things First, my friend Nick Wright is joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network, brought to you by Mercedes-Benz, the best or nothing.

By the way, I do think the NBA is going to get going. There's a bunch of different formats going on. I joked yesterday. It was one of my calling right, Colin wrongs. When I first saw Zion play, I said. said, that's what a star looks like. The smile, the power, the dunking, the personality, the size, the force, the shoe controversy. Do you think the NBA looks at these playoff formats and considers getting Zion in? That's why they go to 20 or 22 games? Oh, I think he certainly

plays a big factor. And thanks as always for having me on, Colin and Joy. I think he's a factor here, but the NBA's got to be careful because if they just left it as is, either one through 16 or the top eight in each conference. It's the same 16 teams. And that last team in the West is Memphis. And while Memphis doesn't have star appeal or sex appeal, it has John Morant, who's the, I think, the second best rookie and going to win rookie of the year and be a guy who's going to be one of the faces of

the league. And if you try to arrange it, so he's out and Zion's in, that sounds great if the Pelicans make it. And it's probably not terrible if Portland makes it, because they have Dame and CJ. But the other two teams that have the same record essentially as Portland and New Orleans are San Antonio and Sacramento. And if you end up rejiggering the playoffs and you remove Jha who will be a star and you end up with the spurs in the playoffs. And by the way, I expect the spurs to be as prepared as any team post-pandemic because they have pop. That's not exactly going to create the buzz you were hoping for.

So if you have to wait a year on Zion, so be it. Remember, the NBA had to wait two years for LeBron to make the playoffs. They ended up being just fine. And by his second year in the playoffs, he was in the finals. So I don't think you need to try to manufacture a star because Zion will be a star, whether he's in the playoffs or not. You know, there's a couple of cowboy topics. Troy Aikman said something yesterday.

And Troy knows a lot about the sport, but he said, I think you could trade Dallas's roster for anybody's. And my argument is we covet what we. and you just see more of the Cowboys. I mean, nobody knows Callais Campbell. Callas Campbell is a great football player. Nobody watched him. Nobody watched Jalen Ramsey.

Great. Right? Gardner Minshu actually has better numbers than Baker Mayfield. Nobody watches them play. My argument is the second team in Los Angeles, the Chargers. Their 11th best player is Desmond King. He was an all-pro corner in 2018. I think Dallas has a really good roster, but holes at center,

cornerback, safety, tight end. I don't think it's an elite roster. do you? Well, I do think it's an elite roster. Your point on the Chargers is well taken. It's why the Chargers had it all set up for them, just draft Isaiah Simmons at 6, sign Cam Newton, who I know you're already sending to a retirement home,

and you can really maybe even challenge the Chiefs. But listen, I don't think Dallas has the roster, one through 53 that Baltimore does, that potentially San Francisco does, that New Orleans does. But aside from those handful of, of teams, I think certainly two through 53, they do. I love the addition of Gerald McCoy. Everybody likes C.D. Lamb, you listed the other star guys they have. To me, Dallas's question, what will determine do they win nine games or do they win 12 games? Are these two things?

Can DAC take a full step forward this year from a guy who's somewhere from the ninth to the 13th best quarterback in football to where he's firmly entrenched in that upper team? year and how big of an upgrade are you getting from Jason Garrett to Mike McCarthy? If both of those questions are answered positively, then I think they can be a 12-win football team. I heard you mention that you like Philly's talent more. I couldn't disagree with you more on that. We've been talking about Phillies talent for three years now, I feel like ever since they

won the Super Bowl, I'd like to see it show up. But I do trust wins more than DAC. It's up to DAC to prove me wrong on that this year. By the way, I'm looking at Peter King's top 32 teams. He listed every team in order. Kansas City won. The good teams you'd get, the bad teams you'd get. He loves the Raiders way more than I do.

But then I like Denver more than anybody. Do you have a team that people think is average that you really like in the Nick Wright 1 through 32 if you listed it? So, yeah, so I got a few. I agree with you. He's a little too high on Oakland. I totally disagree with you on Denver. I think Denver is going to be a three or four win team this year.

But the two teams that I think when I did my playoff picks, surprise people, is I have Miami being the last team in the playoffs in the AFC. Joy Taylor, good for your hometown team or your team. I feel like two is going to start and they're going to win nine games. But the team that I think can be excellent this year and be double-digit, compete for the division in a very tough division, is Chicago. They won eight games last year and were alive for the playoffs late with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. Now, I'm not a big Nick Foles fan, but at least Matt Nagy isn't going to have to call plays with one eye close,

terrified of what his quarterback's going to do. And I feel like we've seen when you have certain teams get the spirit sucked out of them by quarterback play. I think that's what happened to Jacksonville a couple years ago. It's just if the other team gets to 15, we're finished. And so I think the defense, which actually had some bad turnover luck last year, I think they were last in the league in fumble recoveries or interceptions. One of the two, my apologies for not remembering, I think it bounces back. So I think Chicago could actually be a very good team this year. And by the way, you know I think this.

He has Cleveland way too low. He has Pittsburgh way too high. I would flip-flop those two. By the way, last year on this show, you predicted Buffalo as your surprise team and you were right and you make compelling arguments. Finally, you were very outspoken. I think we all were, but LeBron James actually followed you and retweeted you on social media. You know, about the situation with George Floyd and Minneapolis and about what we're seeing in America. I had said yesterday, I'm seeing 99% of protesters are doing it right.

They're loud, they're angry, they're pained, and they're peaceful. I think there are groups small, separate doing some looting. But it resonated with you on many levels. And I can almost see when I look at you today, you're a little drained. This has been a rough week for you. Yeah, well, I mean, listen, I'm all right. It's been a rough week for America. You know, 2020 has been a long decade, and we're five months, six months into it.

And so there's a million things I could say on this. I did, you're right, I had an impassioned plea to white America yesterday about our responsibility in this moment. I don't need to reiterate that here. People can see it on Twitter if they'd like to. But I do, I will say one thing I didn't say on the show yesterday, which is the focus and what I would consider the almost the slight of hand that is going on by, I think the media putting a disproportionate focus on what is being called rioting or looting. When you are correct, the vast majority of these protesters are incredibly peaceful.

and many of the dust-ups have been instigated, and we've seen it on camera by the police, not by the protesters. But if I may use a Colin Coward-style analogy, if we want to focus on the looting for a moment, if you invite me over to your house and I bleed all over your carpet, and in fact I intentionally spray blood in a few places,

and I'm sure it's a very nice $10,000 carpet, that seems outrageous by me. but if it's because you shot me, it's pretty offensive that you're mad about the damage I did to your carpet. And if the next day we're still, we're like, well, Nick got shot, but Colin's carpet got ruined, I'm going to be a little angry because it's like,

yo, why are we talking at all about the carpet? I feel very badly for the small business owners, and I'm not minimizing that, but that is not the subject at hand here. And every minute that is spent concerned about that is a minute that is not spent trying to get to the root cause and the root issue here, which is state sanctioned police violence, particularly against minority communities. And as long, until we are comfortable having that very uncomfortable conversation and actually trying to make proactive changes to address it, unfortunately, a lot more car. are going to get bled on and we're not going to actually move forward in that regard. And so that's what I would say.

And if I get on a lighter note, can I say one other thing real quick on before we go? You had a great tweet a few months ago in the midst of the pandemic saying once everything opens back up, you're going to tip like a casino gangster because of your friends in the food service industry. Can we add an addendum to that, which you and I are going to start appreciating our hairstylists more than we ever have? and advocate for a higher pay for them because my God, you and me are in rough shape, buddy. I'm worse thing. When I said you're fatigued, by the way,

don't take it personally. You get up at three in the morning. I couldn't do what you do. So I would be, my middle name would be fatigued, but it has been emotional for all of us. A dear friend, Nick Wright. I love having you on the show, buddy. You too.

Talk to you later, man. All right. Yeah, my hair is beyond reproach. There's just. It's a little more, it's interesting today. You've been doing a good job. Hair stylists? Like, I don't want, you look, you look presentable.

But yes, we need our hair stylist. And we need our whole crew back. But, you know, it's almost Goulet. You're almost, you know, I don't even want to shave it off. That's right. A lot of different stuff coming up. Peter King is at the top of the hour. It's the herd.

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So we do this. We do it all the time in the media. And as I've said over the last several years, the media has changed. They spend too much time on Twitter. They're too often overreacting, panic-driven. I mean, it's a week ago. COVID was everything.

Now nobody talks about it. I think the media tends to go into hyper mode in sports is a prime example. We're now, Trevor Lawrence is so great, the Clemson quarterback. And he's so great early, we're going to pick him apart. We did this with Andrew Luck. Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, they kind of just came out of nowhere. And we were like, whoa. And so we're in the awest.

stage. They never really got criticized. Ryan Clark's probably a great guy, works at the other place. He said Trevor Lawrence of Clemson, he's not a transcendent football player. I mean, he's got a cannon and stuff, but he says, I was on the sideline against LSU. He was off and he was not good. Well, it was the best college football team of all time, and he was 19 years old. Folks, the game before against Ohio State, the best Big Ten team ever, two top three picks defensively, Then another first rounder on defense in the first round this year. 260 yards, two TDs, no picks, ran for 107 yards and another TD. That was Ohio State, the best Ohio State team ever.

The last eight games Trevor Lawrence played last year, including the playoff games, he didn't throw an interception as a sophomore, true sophomore, didn't redshirt? And that counts Ohio State and LSU. The four best teams he's ever played in college, Bama, LSU, Ohio State, that Notre Dame playoff team. Eight touchdowns, no picks, two rushing touchdowns, one three of four. Last year, he faced a great college football team

that had more good NFL players. LSU had 14 guys drafted. But because Trevor Lawrence was so good early, the next two years will be spent, well, what about that quarter? What about that throw? What about that game? We did this with Andrew Luck.

Andrew Luck as a freshman was unbelievable. with Stanford players. The next two years, we picked him apart. He didn't have a bad game for two years. I mean, they lost to Wake Forest, but he was really good. Andrew Luck had one really bad college game. He was a freshman. It was against Cal.

He was awful. That's their rival. He was awful. Wasn't all his fault, but he was bad. That's it. One bad one. Trevor Lawrence has had an pretty average game against the greatest college football team

most of us have ever seen. Let's stop. The reason Joe Burrow and Kyler were annoyed at great because they arrived late. We didn't have time to really inspect them. Joe Burrow wasn't very good as a junior around all those same LSU players. Kyler Murray was more into baseball early, had to move around and transfer. Didn't feel he could win jobs at other places. So now in the NFL, we can look at Kyler and we'll look at Joe and we'll pick him apart.

Here's a guarantee. Trevor Lawrence is going to be the first player tech in the next year's draft. It's a guarantee. It's over. It was over last year. He would have been the first player take. If he was on the market today, he'd go over Joe Burrell. Yes, he would.

NFL GM's 7 told me that. Like all of them. There's no argument. He is 6-6. Big arm can run like crazy. Ran all over Ohio State's defense. There's no flaws in the game. There's literally no holes.

Joe Burrow, bad as a junior, average arm. Trevor Lawrence doesn't amoe yet. He just had not a very good game against LSU, a great football team. Like, let's not pick apart Trevor Lawrence if he has a bad start. He's a kid. He's a kid. He's like, I know you're saying, well, what about Joe Burrow? You're critical of Joe Burrow.

Because everybody's made him the next Joe Montana. It's ridiculous. You're looking at a kid that's more talented than Andrew Luck and Joe Montana. and Tom Brady and Drew Breeze. That's how good this kid is. He's going to stumble this year. He'll have a bad half. They're kids.

I mean, we're not sure how much practice they'll get. I mean, we think it's going to be ready. We're not quite sure. He's lost good players to the NFL. You know, we do this. It's not a good take to say he's not transformative or transcendent. It's just not. He is.

Nobody's disputing it. No GM is denying it. And he will be the first player taken on the draft. I'm not even going to, you know how this year we were talking and arguing about who's going to get taken number one and stuff? I'm not even going to, that's not a talking point. He's going number one. Justin Fields at Ohio State is an unbelievable talent. People don't even put him in the same classification. I saw a mock draft a month ago. They had Justin Fields at 20. I mean, here's your number one pick. Period. End of story. It's Andrew Luck. We're watching Andrew Luck again, except different coast, way better players around him.

Peter King is joining us around the corner on a Tuesday, hour two coming up. the herd. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Ah, here we go. It is a Tuesday. It is hour two.

We are live in Los Angeles, and this is the hurt. Wherever you may be and however you may be listening, we're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Dante Stolworth. At the end of this hour, Stephen Jackson joining us next hour. Peter King, just a couple of minutes. Joy, Taylor, how are you? Doing good. 100 days away from football, NFL.

College football, what's the date today? June 1. June 2nd. So college football, 13 days from now, kids report in. You can start some practices and stuff, camps. So we're getting close. 100 days away in the NFL. Peter King came out, and it's a simple thing, but it's fun.

He ranked all 3.3. 32 NFL teams. Now, obviously, we all kind of agree on the top four, three or four. We all agree in the bottom four or five. Right. But it's interesting to look at Peters. He likes Tennessee is his number seven. The Raiders are number eight and the Steelers are 10.

So I was going to say this is his power rankings. So I don't like the Titans nearly as much. The Raiders nearly as much. And the Steelers nearly as much. So let me just discuss those teams. Why don't I like them? The Raiders. they're a bad defense.

They have, I think, easily the worst defense in their division. Vic Fangio, I think will make Denver's defense even better this year. I think the Chargers get Derwin James back, have remarkable secondary pieces and two pass rushers. I don't like the Raiders pass rush. I don't like their defense. I don't like the karma and the relationship. GM coach and quarterback, I think is tenuous. And frankly, no team to relocate has won more than nine games in that season.

in its new location since the Super Bowl era. As far as the Pittsburgh Steelers, I think the division is significantly better. I think Big Ben is 38 years old, has never been known as a great offseason workout guy. I don't think they elevated their team in the offseason. Eric Ebron's a nice player at tight end. I don't think he makes them significantly better. I still have concerns about the details from Mike Tomlin to Big Ben in big spots. I'm selling some Steeler stock for the first time in my life.

And I don't buy Tennessee. I thought it was sort of lightning in a bottle, a magic season. They lost one of their best offensive tackles. They lost one of their best defensive tackles in Gerald Casey. They were hiding Ryan Tannahill last year, and their two playoff wins, he threw for 160 yards combined. I think they were hiding him. And if you look at that roster outside of Derek Henry,

if I say, name their elite players, I just don't think they have many. I like the coach. I like the GM, I like the system, but I just don't buy them as an elite team. Now, Peter also has three teams lower than I do. He's got the Eagles 15, the Broncos 20, and the Browns 24. I like all those teams more, and here's why. The Philadelphia Eagles, I think their owner, their GM, their coach, and their quarterback are all A to A-minus. They've made the playoffs for three straight seasons.

And what I like is they attacked their two weeks. weaknesses. Cornerback was a struggle. Darius Slays a top five corner. They went and got him. Still surprised Detroit gave him up. And Deshawn Jackson comes back at wide receiver. Alshon Jeffrey comes back and they addressed it with Marquis Goodwin in a trade and Jalen Rieger from TCU in the draft. They addressed their perimeter spots, which were both weaknesses. I love their line play, their GM, their coach, their quarterback and their owner. And I believe leadership wins in this league as much as talent. The Denver Broncos. They're my shock team in the league. Vic Van Gio never has bad defenses for very long, and they started playing really good in spots last year. They won four

their last five games. They lost many of their games. Five of their losses were one possession. They've upgraded with Pat Shermer, not a head coach, but a great coordinator, and I buy Drew Locke. I thought he had some gunslinger. I think there's something there. I think they have the most underrated tight-end, wide receiving, running back core in the NFL. I like Denver a lot. And finally, the Browns. They were 6 and 10 last year, and I thought they were the worst coach team in the NFL. They had the worst tackles in the NFL.

I think Cleveland has made major upgrades at both tackle positions and at coach. And coaching in this league feels like it's over 50% of the sport. And I think Freddie Kitchens is a nice guy and he's a good dude and he can coach. but not a head coach in the NFL in the AFC North. I thought he was over his skis. I said it when he was hired. And again, I think he can coach just not be a head coach in the NFL, maybe a college coordinator.

Before last year, he was an NFL position coach. So I like the Eagles, the Broncos, and the Browns more than Peter King, and he is now joining us live via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So I think rankings are fun. I think they're fun. What I always find, his story, hysterical about rankings, we know that there's going to be two shock teams and two good teams that will fall and that everybody yells at everybody if you predict those. So let me talk about the Raiders

for a second because I think they are interesting. I don't think they're good. What in particular do you like about the Vegas Raiders? I like their explosiveness on offense and I like the fact they get Jonathan Abram back. He's going to be an enforcer safety for that secondary, which they really neat coming off last year. I think furl is going to be better in year or two. He's trying to get more flexible to become more of an edge rushing guy. And I think they did a wonderful job in free agency to rebuild their linebackers. So, you know, look, Colin, you said it exactly right. Last year, I had the San Francisco 49ers coming off two years in a row where they want to combine nine games. And I had them rated seventh. And,

Never in my 40 years as a sports writer have I gotten more reaction like, you are an idiot. You know nothing. And I can look at them now and say, you're all right. You guys are all right. I didn't know anything. I underrated them. And it's the exact same thing with all this. You're right.

We're all making guesses as to who's going to make that leap. There's a lot I really like about Denver. You know why I didn't put Denver up? because I think Denver is going to be one of the most interesting teams in a long time to watch because of their offensive speed. They might be faster on a given Sunday than Kansas City. But I just don't know. Drew Locke, five starts.

What do we really know about Drew Locke? You love their weapons, but are their weapons going to be fed? So that, but those are all the kinds of questions that I try to just make guesses about. Well, it's funny because I am over the course of my career, I like leadership because I've seen my career shaped by good management and good producers and good teammates. And for my entire life, I like the Steelers. I'm always buying Steelers stock. And so for the first time ever, this season I said, I'm out. Baltimore and Cleveland have better rosters.

I'm out. And I don't trust Big Ben's off-season workout regime to get better at 38 years old. I trust Brady if he got hurt. I see Russell Wilson's off-season workouts. I don't trust Big Ben. I got massive pushback. I mean, hate mail, not mail, but hate tweets for weeks on the Steelers. So I have my reservations, but you're high on Pittsburgh.

Why? Yeah, you know what, Colin, the one thing that I wish Kevin Colbert had done, and I wrote this, why didn't they go out and get a quarterback? Yeah. You know, Ben has missed all these games over the last five years. he missed whatever, 14 last year. And without him, they might be the seventh seed. But the reason, okay, so what are the chances that Ben plays 15 games?

70%, 60%, I don't know. A little bit more than 50, 50 probably. Okay, but they might have the best defense in football this year. You realize the last 10 weeks last year, this defense surrendered 14. points a game and keep this in mind when you think about that. They were surrendering 14 points a game and not getting any help from their offense consistently. They were putting bad positions a lot of times by, you know, Hodges and Rudolph. So to me, this is betting on the defense and rolling the dice on Rothlisberger being out there 14 or 15 weeks. You know, it's talking about management

I get a lot of pushback on Philadelphia. And I just like their owner. I like their GM. I like their coach and I like their quarterback. Look at Philadelphia. You have them right in the middle of the NFL, right in the middle of the pack. Yeah. I think Philadelphia is incredibly well run.

Am I overstating it as a franchise? No. Hey, I think Howie Rosem is great at his job. And I really like Doug Peterson. He's not afraid to shake things up to take chances. He's the kind of guy players love to play for. You know, I guess when I look at Philadelphia, and again, look, if you tell me right now that Phillies win in the division and they're going to beat Dallas by two games, I would

say I could see that. I put Dallas ahead of them, I think, for a couple of reasons. Number one, I think that there's a better chance to get a consistent season from Dak Prescott, you know, the whole season, than Carson Wentz. and why do I say that? It's because Carson Wentz, you don't know if he's going to play a full season. I'd say again, you know, chances are better than Rothesberger playing a full season, but you know, you still don't know that. And then secondarily, you know, you're really relying on some youth on the offensive side of the ball in Philadelphia, you know, especially there's tremendous pressure

on Jalen Rager to come in day one and to be an impact player. Well, five years. ago, there was tremendous pressure on Nelson Agilor, and he was picked almost exactly at the same spot. And he never was that guy. So I'm not saying that I don't like the pick of Jalen Rager, but it's like everybody assumes that guys picked high in the draft are going to make it. And the washout factor is 40 to 50% in almost every draft with the first round picks. So there's that. But look, I could see Philadelphia being a top 10 team in the league this year. It's just that, you know, like last year, they need to beat Seattle one of the two times they play them in like the last seven weeks of the year, once in November, once in the wild card round.

They score nine points both times. Yeah. It's just, you know, there's something about Philadelphia that I'm just a little skeptical about. I've always thought Baker Mayfield's a tad overrated, but I do think with good cards. he can be successful. I absolutely believe he'll get good coaching. You have Cleveland shockingly low to me at 24th. I just think their personnel's too good. And I also think they got so much harsh criticism. I think they'll grow up a little. And I think Baker will rein it in. We've already heard him twice say that. You're not buying Cleveland. Why not?

You know, Colin, it's almost like every year at this time, I kind of say to myself, and I've said it the last few years. Yep. This is the turnaround year for Cleveland. This is it. And, you know, I guess I probably, I probably did overcorrect with that. You know, if there's one team that I look at, you know, the Browns being 24, that might be too low. But then again, I will just say this to you. It won't surprise me to see the Brown split with Cincinnati and to go one in three in the other games in their division. Yeah. So are the Browns really better than 24th if they go two and four in their division with

the schedule that they have? Look at the schedule they have. So look, I don't know. I could see, I really like Kevin Stefansky. I'm skeptical about Baker Mayfield, but I definitely think he needs a year or two to prove it with some finality either way. By the way, it's been a crazy 2020. I mean, just the NBA alone, Kobe Bryant, David Stern both pass, the COVID, the George Floyd situation.

Is somebody that's been in the media, a Hall of Fame writer for 30 years, what have you made of the last week in America? You know, it's so hard because you try to sort of go on with your life. and every five minutes something brings you back to the video of a police officer kneeling on the neck of another human being until he was dead. I don't know what it is. I don't care how, what kind of character this police officer had. I just cannot believe that one human being on camera, mind you, could do that. to another human being. And it just keeps leading me down the path. Why is there so much black anger in society? In my opinion, it's because as Therz Peres Paler of Yahoo told me the other day, or he actually said it on his podcast, and then I called them and complimented him on and

ended up using it in my column. Thank God for camera phones. How many times, Colin, has this happened in the last 50 years, 70 years, but we never saw it, so we don't believe it. It's hearsay. You know, this is not hearsay now. And I just think that it's a time of reckoning in our country. And I hope we all pay attention. And I said this yesterday, Peter, that as America, I have seen my entire life, we don't like bullying. We open our hearts, our checkbooks. We don't like to see people bullied.

There's a sense of fairness in America. And I think it reaches across all ages and spectrums except this, where, you know, African Americans have been pleading with us our entire lives. We're not treated like you are with law enforcement. They feel bullied. And you can see the pain. I think they're incredibly honest. Every athlete I ask about this tells me the same stories.

And I know they're not making them up. So to your point, I think reckoning is the right word. And I appreciate you come on and talking about it, Peter. Thank you, Colin. You bet. All sorts of stuff. Today still to go. Dante Stalworth, Stephen Jackson, stopped by our show.

You know, it is funny about the NFL. We love the NFL so much. We watch it. We bet it. We have fantasy football. A lot of other sports we enjoy. Our love is so deep for football in America, college and pro. That when Peter and I, we can literally follow.

a team and support it forever. If we just acknowledge a team has trouble, first time in my life, I kind of bailed on the Steelers this year. The feedback I got was insane. And what's great about the NFL is you really can be bad and then very good

very quickly because NFL, unlike baseball, doesn't have tenure contracts. And unlike the NBA, it's not controlled by really superstar players, a dozen or so. Players can get cut. Rosters can be turned over. So you know, Peter and I both love the sport, have a lot of contacts.

We see Cleveland completely differently. And I, you know, you just don't, this is a league that instills so much passion in people. If you have strong opinions, which I do, and Peter does, you get massive pushback and feedback. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search Herd to listen live or on demand whenever. you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where

Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear 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.

Tripp 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, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? 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 Hardway. Open your free, Our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with 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 it 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 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all right. Yeah, yeah. Literally. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see

there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Now you're finishing that sentence. 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 get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Clifford Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I-Hart Radio. video app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

This weekend, it's a full slate of racing from Atlanta Motor Speedway. Saturday, the trucks start us off at 1 Eastern on FS1, followed by the Xfinity series over on Fox. Then on Sunday, it's the Folds of Honor Quick Trip 500 live at 3 Eastern on Fox and the Fox Sports app. By the way, I've been reluctant to talk about the baseball negotiations must. I think it's now in the, I've been told it's in the owner's hands. It's in Rob Manfred's hands. The players have said we'll play for half as much as we were going to play for. Let's go for it.

I do believe there's a bunch of owners that would rather just say stop to the end of the season. I've supported the players with this. It is now in the owner's hands. The players have said, okay, we agree pro rata. I don't want to get too confusing with the talks. But the players are ready to go, half our salary, half a season, let's go. If it doesn't work now, it's on the owners, it's on the commissioner. Players have agreed to it.

I think it'll get done. I said this a couple weeks ago or maybe a week ago. This is just all public posturing. I do think in America over the last three months, American companies are trying to figure out new ways to keep employees and new ways to succeed. I think as a sportscaster, it is frustrating sometimes to hear baseball talking about stuff they argued about in 1994.

Who gets the money? I get it. It's bad optics. Just think about this. Baseball is baseball. is best played in warm weather. Crisp weather is passable. Cold weather is bad.

You push this puppy back another month. If you can't figure this out in six or seven days, you're going to have playoffs in early November. It's going to be bad. It's going to be destroyed. The optics will be horrible. The quality of baseball will be bad. We've seen postponements in mid-October.

You don't want baseball games in the playoffs in November. It's just going to look awful. Here's another thing to consider. What happens? This is going to be embarrassing. If they fight for another two weeks, then they have a spring training. And it lasts three weeks. And that NFL camps start before the baseball season.

There's going to be a chunk of American sports fans that just sign off on baseball. If the NFL training camps begin before the baseball season, it is going to look so bad and people will be so frustrated. They won't give baseball a chance this year. And it's an interesting year because the Yankees are supposed to be great. And the Dodgers, a lot of these traditional powers, the people like the Cubs are supposed to be very, very good. So, you know, it's frustrating. We're talking about the same stuff we talked about in 94. Enjoy with the news. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the herd line news. Well, continuing with that, Major League Baseball is getting closer to the 2020 season starting. The owners reportedly made a major shift in negotiation with the players on Monday. The league is now willing to pay players their full prorated share of their salaries that was agreed upon in March. And they still want to see a much shorter season than the players do. They proposed the players proposed the 114 game season. I agree with you. This is kind of always, I feel like, been in the owner's hands.

I mean, the owners know these are negotiations. It's not like the owners are in a room by themselves coming up with a plan and the players are over here. Like, there's a communication line going. Like they know what the players are starting to put together, what they're interested in, what they want. And likewise, the players know what the owners want. At the end of the day, everyone just wants baseball. The players want to play. But they have to be, the owners have to be reasonable with what they're asking of the players.

And like you've said this whole time, and I fully agree with, The risk this year is on the players. You as an owner don't get to enjoy all of these earnings, all of this growth, billions of dollars, and the players take no part in it, which is fine. The players are paid handsomely, and they've agreed upon the division of the growth that that goes to you. But you don't get to enjoy that. And then when something like this happens, the players have to make up for the money that you lost that they never had access to to begin with. And they're not even arguing about COVID-19 anymore.

It's just monetary. Like everybody's agreed on the virus and the health concerns and how those things will work. This is just all monetary. The NBA at least is arguing primarily about COVID. Yes. Like I think fans get that. People don't want to hear 40 million unemployed wealth talk. They don't want to hear it.

No, nobody wants to do that. But also, you know, you have the job you have. You know, this is their livelihood. This is their job as baseball players. Everyone has what does what they do. That's what they do. And they should be able. to stick up for the money that they think they deserve.

Like whether it's whether we're talking millions or billions or not, like that's, that's fair to the players. So Dwayne Haskins has a lot of room for improvement as he has into heads into his second NFL season. Bill Pollyan hopes that Washington will be patient with Haskins because even some of the best quarterback started out slow in their rookie years. Dwayne Haskins, that quarterback is a work in progress. You got to give him a chance to get his feet wet to feel comfortable in the offense.

It's going to come slowly. it does for every quarterback. Peyton had an awful rookie year, but the arrow was up. But when it was over, he learned a lot from the experience. I think Duane's going to have already learned a lot, and he'll be a lot better this year,

but it's going to take him time to understand the new systems. Yeah, I think this is fair. I think we are a little aggressive when it comes to rookie quarterbacks, putting a lot of pressure on them to come out and, you know, have rookie of the year first years. everyone's not going to be able to do that. It's a huge step up. Bad team, didn't have the right coach or GM.

Third best roster has to start immediately after one year of starting in college. This was bound to be a disaster. Like he's still big, strong, and can throw the football. Right. But we're also, even with the top level guys that have expectations, we are extremely impatient with. Like, you've said, you're going to end up being right about Joe Burrow this year because we have incredible expectations on him.

and expectations lead to disappointments. What makes you disappointed when you expected something to be a certain way? And it didn't go that way. That's why underdogs are always amazing stories. She's like, oh, where'd you come from? Wow, look at you. You're doing amazing. But then comes the expectations and can you maintain that?

I don't know that I've seen anything from Dwayne Haskins yet that makes me think that he is a starting quarterback in this league. But obviously Washington has and they want to stick with him and see what they have. And this is a no lose situation for Washington because if they stick with him another year, which they've obviously committed to doing, considering how the draft went. And it doesn't go well. Well, then you're at the top of the draft again next year, and you're rebuilding.

So not that you're signing up or tanking, because they obviously want Haskins to be their guy so they can continue building and moving forward, but it's not a bad situation for Washington to be in. So finally, Henry Rugg's NFL career hasn't started yet, but he's already had a bit of a health scare. Rugg's father said the Raiders receiver injured his thigh while he was helping a friend move.

He was reportedly cut or something. suffered some sort of puncture wounds, but it's not serious. And Ruggs is on crutches to avoid putting pressure on his thigh. The athletics of the Raiders are aware of the incident, but they're not planning on any comments. He was the first wide receiver off the board, went 12th overall to the Raiders. So I've always said, don't go cheap on toilet paper, transportation, or quarterbacks. Here's the fourth thing.

Moving. Just pay a couple hundred bucks and get help on moving. You know, I've moved many. Many, many times in my life. Many times. And many times I have also done the move myself. And it's generally, I mean, moving no matter what, no matter what kind of situation that you're in financially,

the type of moves that you have, it's stressful. Like if you have someone who literally packs up everything you have and unpacks it, it's still stressful. But, yeah, you probably shouldn't be moving any furniture. I just always remember that friend's scene with the pivot and the couch, trying to go up the stairs. Like it's never, it's never a good look. So it's toilet paper, transportation,

quarterbacks, and moving. Just pay a couple hundred bucks. I can remember trying to move in Tampa in August. And I felt like a baseball catcher in the 70s playing on AstroTurf. I think I lost 12 pounds in an afternoon. Well, also, when you have to ask a friend to move, isn't that the worst? If you get asked to move, like when you're younger, obviously.

Test your friendship. Yeah, it does. Like, are we good enough friends for me to help you move? That's, that's, like, think of the, think of the list of people you would actually help move. Like, you would take a day of your life to help move. That's a good friend. I think it's the best friend. I'm not sure I do that for three people in my life.

I'm not sure any friends would do it for me. I enjoy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. Yeah. The, uh, so I saw this. So Brady Quinn, who I like a lot, he makes a bold prediction.

He said yesterday, Baker Mayfield and the Browns. It's going to be a breakout year for Baker. He said he thinks Baker's going to be a top 10 quarterback. So I know what you're thinking. Colin, bash him. No, there are things you can't have. There are certain opinions that can't coexist. For instance, I own a slaughterhouse and I'm a member of PETA.

You can't be both of those things. They can't coexist. You can't tell me Joe Burrow is going to be great, which you're all telling me, and then tell me Baker's going to be a top 10 quarterback. Because if Joe Burroughs is as good as you all claim, I know Baker's not Lamar, I know he's not Big Ben, and then he's not going to be Joe Burrow. That means he's the fourth best quarterback in his division,

and he ain't making the playoffs. The gap with Baker Mayfield has been this. I think he's good. I don't think he's great. Most everybody else thinks he's great, and they're waiting for him to get great. He's never going to be great. At best, he's going to give you 18. This is how they should manage him this year.

Run the hell out of the football. Play good defense. 18 to 27, a couple of touchdowns, an interception every other week. You complete about 66% of his throws. Passer rating 91-8, 92-8. Great. Take it. He does that.

They're a playoff team. But the entry point with Baker was always messed up. The entry point was he's a number one picket, he's great. My entry point is you can win if you surround him with a bunch of people. He's Case Keenham with a better arm. But he needs a bunch of really good people. Now, I do think they have it. But let's temper expectations on Baker.

Like we've watched two years now. It's not great. It's not close to great. It's not great arm, not great athletically. It's not great decision making. Let's get out of the great thing with him. him. Can he manage a team of really good people to the playoffs? Yes, I believe that's true. And yes, I'm predicting it this year. The top 10 quarterback, if Joe Burrow is as good as you all

claim he's going to be, you can make the argument, and I have all the data to back it up. Baker's now the fourth best quarterback in his division, because he's not Lamar and he's not Big Ben, who threw for 5,000 yards last time I saw him play. So if Burroughs that great, fourth best quarterback, that doesn't mean playoff team. It doesn't mean top 10 quarterback. I just don't think Burroughs as good as you all think. And I think Baker's the third best quarterback at his division with the second best personnel to Baltimore

and he's a playoff quarterback. Dante Stalworth, former NFL player outspoken on many issues. He'll be joining us next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear 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. Trip 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 here on earth. 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,

is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush

didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. 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 get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office, blue, 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Start your day with MDrive Start. World's Best Morning Shake. Had one yesterday. More energy, lean muscle. So check it out, MDrivevStart.com. MDrive Start.com. If you never watched the show before and you turned on the show right now, you would look at my hair and you would think that I sit in the sun all day and don't have a comb.

Neither is true. Do you have a comb here? No. So then that part is true. And you do sit in the sun. Well, not all day, but you do get a lot of sun. I run in the sun. And you said out.

You said you've been sitting out by your pole. Well, I did during COVID. I sat out every day for an hour because I thought it would help my immune system. Listen, you know, you're a beach boy now. I guess. Dante Stallworth has played in the NFL for 10 seasons. Oh, is mindful and thoughtful on many issues, football and beyond. And I thought he would be a good person to bring in our show this week.

And today, joining us via the Coward Global Satellite Network. A CNN contributor as well. Dante, first of all, thank you for coming on the show. I'm sure you get a lot of asks and I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Let me start with this. I've always felt that athletes or any person should speak about what they care about.

But yesterday, Chris Broussard made the argument on my show, pretty compelling argument, but as an African-American male in professional sports, it is a you need to speak. You are worshipped, loved, respected, admired. And I listened to his argument. I thought it was interesting. And I guess I would start with that. Where do you land on that? Do athletes?

You have been outspoken, but you're well-versed, and it's something you're passionate about. Do all athletes need to be Dante Stallworth? I don't think that they need to be out there as much as I was, even as a player. But you definitely have to be aware of the situation. You have to understand the history of African-Americans. And I think even though you look at guys like Charles Barkley, who's famous for saying, you know, I'm not a role model, but people still looked up to him. So that doesn't negate, even though he, you know, told people that he wasn't a role model,

didn't stop people from idolizing him. You know, we idolize who we idolize. But I think as professional athletes in particular NFL players, we have a lot of political capital, especially I live in Washington, D.C. I've been here for six years. And there have been multiple times where, you know, I've been working and reporting from the Pentagon or reporting from up on the hill. Or even at the White House, I must say not this White House last white former, White House former administration.

But, you know, it's always interesting to talk to people and just to hear how much people love football. People recognize me. I didn't even, you know, I had a pretty decent career, but people love football. And they love what the game is about. So they're willing to listen more to professional athletes. And in particular, I believe, NFL players, especially in this city where, you know, a lot of legislation gets passed. A lot doesn't. And people come here to pay the lobby for things they care about. So why shouldn't professional athletes wield the power that they have to come here

and do the same? And they have. I've been here with Malcolm Jenkins and Anquan Bolden, a couple guys who have been out in the front of criminal justice reform from a player's standpoint. Some of the guys who have been out front, there have been a lot of guys. But they've come here to speak to members of Congress. I was with them for three straight days when we met with dozens of members of Congress from both sides of the aisle to try to get them to understand the urgency, you know, that we are unfortunately seeing unfold and bubble over today. The media, I have seen overwhelmingly 99% of protesters are loud and hurt, but respectful to property. But the media often pays attention to a burning car, which gives the insinuation. That's

happening in America. I do not, I see peaceful protest from people in deep pain. Has the media been responsible in your opinion? Depends on who the media is, honestly. I mean, you know, there are people who have an agenda to want to, you know, change the course of the discussion from the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the death of Brianna Taylor and Louisville, Kentucky, the death of Ahmaid Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, there are conversations that need to be half. There are deep rooted injustices that are part of the founding principles of this country that have been in order, been in law for a very long time. So until we can have those discussions, the fruits of this tree that we are seeing, you know, are the protests that are happening

around the country and, you know, some of the extracurricular with the broken windows. I mean, it's honestly, at the end of the day, those are fruits from the tree that we are living in, and we can't understand that problem, those symptoms, until we understand the root cause of the problem why people are protesting. There's always been the saying overwhelmingly, most cops are good cops. But I see that. but that's the world I live in. Do you believe that this morning?

I believe what I see, and I've got friends and relatives, close family members that are in law enforcement. So no one is saying that all law enforcement is bad. But the people who say there's just a few bad apples, I urge you to just go to the Internet or go to Twitter. I'm sure it's on Instagram and Facebook, where not just in Washington, D.C. I live, not just in the city of Minneapolis, all across the country from Seattle to New York City, you see police escalating the violence. It's the police that have been escalating the violence. People I've heard from people I've been on the ground.

Every night I've been at the White House, you know, protesting with other people and just kind of checking out the scene to see what type of narrative will be built in the media. I was out there last night. Matter of fact, yesterday when the president spoke out on the Rose Garden. at the Rose Garden and people were protesting, you know, like we've been all day and the police state agents came and started hitting people in the face with shields and batons and firing tear gas at us, which is a banned chemical agent in war, but somehow it's okay to use on American citizens, on any citizens of any country, especially since it's banned in warfare,

which that's not getting the respect. of the conversation that that needs as well. But it's, you know, like you said, it's the images of the burning cars, the broken windows. That is the images that we are mostly singing on television, but every day I've been out in front of the White House, it's been mostly peaceful. And, you know, usually it's the police that are escalating

these things, unfortunately, and it's not, like I said, it's not just happening here. It's not just my word of mouth. Go look on the internet. It's happening all across the country from Seattle to New York, I only have about 90 seconds left, but are you optimistic today, Dante? It's hard to be optimistic.

Maybe I should be, but I'm living what I see. And I was out there when the police was a peaceful protest. And the police started to hit people with shields and batons and fire tear gas at it. So, you know, it's hard to be optimistic, but you have to be. But not only you have to be optimistic, you have to strategize. We have to start to figure out, you know, what types of sweeping legislation need to be passed because these laws that get passed, you know, time by time, little by little is obviously not changing anything as we saw. I think it was yesterday where the police in Louisville had killed someone during a protest and none of the people had on, none of the police officers had their dash cam or their cams on, their body cams on. So what's the point of having that in law if it's not going to happen? We need to have sweeping, legislation across the country, and that needs to happen ASAP. You know what?

You have always been totally engaged on this stuff, and I follow you, and I appreciate you, and I just appreciate you stopping by. You get a lot of asks. I see you all over the place, and you are an active American citizen, and I appreciate that, and thank you for coming on the show, Dante. Thanks, Colin. I appreciate you. Thanks for having me.

Hey, Joy. Hi. Hi. Thank you. Dante Stoll. Thank you. Appreciate it. Who's an active contributor media. He was an intern on a site Huffington Post years ago. He started writing. And I've said this. And I think Joy can attest to this. And John certainly can. He's been with me for like 10 years. I'll listen anything. I mean, I'll watch Bill Maher and laugh. And I can listen to Ben Shapiro. I want information. That's what I want. That's what I'm loyal to. I don't have to agree with you. You can be more left than I am or more right than I am. But I acknowledge that both sides have fascinating points. And sometimes I feel like I'm on this small island of people who think like I do, but I know I'm not.

Well, in general, if you want to be informed, you should look to places that don't necessarily tell you exactly what you want to hear. Information over affirmation. Well, we come from a journalistic background, so we have to research in order to speak. And that's probably why you lean that way. Stephen Jackson last hour. Thanks to Dante Stallworth. Get your free credit scorecard today, even if you're not a customer. Learn more at Discover.com slash credit scorecard.

Limitations apply. Hour three next. One more herd. The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Last night, a blown call changed the game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending.

Opinions are flying. And nobody's telling you, exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real.

From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer-beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlics brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host and your favorite therapist, Kear 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. Trip 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. 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, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. 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 with Little Kim?

Well, you can find out on The Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it 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 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but yeah, yeah, literally. 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. I'm going to 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 get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff.

Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. You know, in this business, sometimes I know the athletes, I'm going to bring on my show. But most often, I do not. We have a handful of people at this network that we employ, and they're regulars, they're part of the team.

But Stephen Jackson was one of those athletes. I had watched them. He was a tough guy. He was a rough guy. And the first time I invited him on the show, I had no idea what I was up against or in for. And I just connected with him. I thought he was incredibly authentic.

I thought he was so real. I thought he was outspoken. He didn't really care what I thought about him or what others did. And in my business, I think it's rare when you find people that are loyal to themselves and honesty and be damn with everything else. And it's one of the reasons we keep inviting Stephen Jackson back on the show. But we invite him back today for another reason. He was a childhood friend of George Floyd.

and he's been front and center nationally on this story. And I want to bring him in via the Coward Global Satellite Network. So, first of all, I appreciate it. It's been an emotional time for you. Let's start from that point. You and George were childhood friends. The age, were you athletic friends, explained to our audience your history with George,

who was murdered. last week by a police officer in Minneapolis. Thanks for having me, Colin. Good to see y'all again. About a 20, 23-year relationship, I was playing basketball in my teenage years, and he came down to Port Out the Texas, which is 45 minutes from where he lives in Houston,

with a friend of mine named Tully. And Tully had already told me he had a homeboy in Houston that looked just like me, and we might have the same daddy. And Telly brought him down. And our first two words when we seen with each other was, who are your daddy? Who are your daddy?

Because we looked that much alike. And I think the fact that we looked that much alike, we had some of the same common goals. We kind of lived really the same lives at the time. I was in the streets a lot at the time. And we just bonded. You know, we protected each other. He supported me and everything I was doing.

And he was just a great friend, somebody that always had my back. When you say he's just like you, what, what, I mean, you meet a lot of people. Why did you remain close? What, what was it about him? Well, one thing about, one thing I loved about him was, well, the only difference between me and him, we come from the same areas, but I had more opportunity than him. He was a, he was a top tight end in the state of Texas. They lost in the state championship. He was also good in basketball.

So he had opportunities in sports, too. He had a chance to go. He just didn't get the opportunity. as I had. And Floyd was just a guy who wanted to protect and provide everybody for everybody. He was one of those guys, especially playing basketball, you meet a lot of people that abuse your friendship. At times when he needed things, he didn't even call me because he probably called me a month before and he wanted to call me again. When he did call, he called me for clothes for a job interview or something that his mother needed. Most people call you just to try to abuse your

friendship because they know you're going to give it to him. He was one of those guys that genuinely supported me and only called when he really really. needed something. The video is outrageous and it's disturbing for me. After you saw the video for the next several days, I know it's a personal question. Did you sleep? How difficult? How pain?

How difficult was it for you? It's still kind of crazy. Just to see, just for the whole world to see my friend go like that. And still not have justice all this time after. but um uh it's it i don't know i mean i've i've gotten a little sleep the first couple of days i didn't sleep um but um i'm not i'm not even i don't even know how i feel when people ask me i can't give them an answer because i'm not even concerned about how i feel um this this position just fell in my lap with what this happening to my brother when my brother getting

murdered and uh i'm embracing it so i'm not i haven't really thought about myself since it happened I put myself out here on the front line and standing from my brother. And every time I think about it, I get emotional. But I don't think that feeling never go away because everybody's seen it. What's your reaction to America's reaction to Georgia's death? I love it.

And I love the fact that, Colin, you know this. I've told somebody from every race that I love them and I mean it. So I love the fact that everybody's standing with me because they know that I'm standing for them. I'm not the type of, I'm not the black man. that says black people and I hate it and I hate everybody else. No, I love being black and I love being black first, but I love everybody as well. And what they're afraid of is every race standing together for the right cause. What they're scared of is us standing together side by side

and loving each other and show we can stand together to get things done. But right now, they want us to divide and that's what they scared of. You know, I've said, I've overwhelmingly seen peaceful protests overwhelmingly, 99%. And then there are, are separate groups and they feel separate from protesters that they take this opportunity and you know they do what they do and there's stores and there's fires does that bother you or do you think it's part of the process do you think it's disrespecting george's legacy what do you make of the occasional burning car and the store situations yeah that was that wasn't him i always say i you know i'm a realist i'm gonna be like minnesota had to respond that way Minnesota had to respond

that way. It's a line of cases that still have, a lot of families and mothers that still have no answers for their sons being killed. It's not just my brother. Since I've been here, I've learned about at least three other mothers whose sons been killed by police and they still haven't gotten answers. So,

Minnesota had to respond that way. Everywhere else, I think they went a little bit too far. Yeah, you should have went down to your police stations. Yeah, you should have went down and protested, but it should have been peaceful, especially in Atlanta. Black people basically built Atlanta. So we don't need to tear it down. I live in Atlanta. So that didn't really make no sense.

And Floyd wouldn't want people to tear stuff down. He would want love. He would want unity. He would want everybody to support each other. And that's what I'm going to do. I would imagine you've had a lot of people because you've never sought attention since I've known you. And now you're at the center of this and you're clearly comfortable with this. LeBron reached out. I know that. Have you had a lot of people, different people, politicians, athletes reach out to you? I have more people reach out to me than my whole life, a lot of people. But it's good because they're listening and they all won't change.

But it's time for not to just call me and say you won't change. You got to stand with me. You got to stand on the side of me. Anybody can send me a text. Anybody can send me a DM and say, I support you. And that's all cool. And I'm even talking to my athletes and my friends around the world entertainment. You know, it's easy to send a text.

But guys like Jamie Fox showed up. up. Guys like Carl Anthony Towne showed up. Guys like Bunby and Tray the Truth showed up. So guys like Royce White showed up. So certain people showing up. Tamika Mallory, a lot of people showed up. And it's not all about texting and it's saying you with me. You have to be on the side of me and stand with me.

In your life, and I asked this, Joy and I have talked about this, and I asked every athlete this. This is a personal question, and you don't have to answer it. But in my lifetime, when I have asked executives, athletes who are black in America about driving and seeing and being dealt with differently than I have been. I mean, I get tense when I'm pulled over. But I am overwhelmingly, I can't even begin to talk about this.

I'm irrelevant on this topic about police treatment. In your life, do you be as honest as you can if you would? about you've been pulled over, how you've been treated. You're a big athlete. You're a big, strong athlete. And when you have been pulled over, do you think it's fair? It's just cause. Do you get anxious?

How do you feel? I think the reason why I've never dealt with it, because in my hometown, the most of the police that's in my hometown grew up in that area. So they know us all. And I think that's what keeps us from having these situations with police. if more states would have police that grew up in this area and police in the areas they grew up in, they won't have actions like this

because they know everybody. A lot of times you get these ex-military guys or ex-skinhead guys, they come in and be police and you put them in the area, they know nothing about. And these are the things that happen. So no, no, I've never done with it. They're with it because a lot of, like I said, most of the police, they came watch my basketball games,

they knew my family or they went to school with my family. So it was no need to have, do me like that. If I was doing something wrong, they could just reach out to my uncle or somebody they went to school with. So I never dealt with it. So you have mostly in your personal life a positive relationship with law enforcement? No question. Yeah. Anybody in your family in law enforcement? No. Actually, I'm lying. My uncle. My uncle was a CO for a while. I think he still is. I'm going to not mistake. Markle Michelle. You have been thrust into the forefront of this. And it's interesting because I think you're one of the more real people I interview. And you feel

it's you feel very comfortable in this space. Are you surprised a little bit your comfort being out there with this, I don't consider it political. It's a, it's a humanity issue. But you've embraced it. You've been comfortable. You've been. And are you surprised for you at how you've handled it? Obviously, you're in deep pain clearly. But are you surprised that you want to speak to people. You get up in the morning and you want to address this. Well, two reasons why people shouldn't be surprised. The bra in Detroit and the strip club incident with Jamal Tislin in Indiana. I've always been there for my brothers. And I'm not surprised because this is my heart. I actually care. You know, I've always actually cared about

people. That's why I say I stand for everybody. So I didn't ask for this role, Colin. I didn't ask to be here. If I could rewind back and have my brother back and not be here. I would take it. But this is what it is. This is reality. And I think a lot of people follow with me because I'm representing what the world has lost, and that's common sense. You know, the world has definitely lost common sense.

And people know I stand for everybody, man. So I love everybody. My heart has always been in the right place. And I'm embracing it. I'm not running from it. Stephen, I appreciate you doing this. You know, at first I didn't know if it was appropriate to bring you on. I think it is, and I appreciate you spreading the message.

And you know how much I am fond I am of you coming on our show. And next time I hope it's in better circumstances, but I appreciate it. Man, you're my guy, Colin. We always got a bond, bro. Anytime you need me, I'm coming regardless what it is. Thanks, Stephen. Thank you. All right.

He's speaking in Minneapolis today. I think it's at 4 Central. He is speaking, so I appreciate that. Joy Taylor with the news. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So J.R. Smith added his two cents to the NBA goat debates, and he pointed out that there are very different styles of basketball that Jordan and LeBron play,

and that's why it's so hard to compare the two. About Braun, he leads by example with his working. You get somebody who's so well rounded with rebound and scoring, passing, dribbling, a good teammate, it's totally different. It's a totally different atmosphere. He's a totally different person than those guys. So when people compare them, it's just like, there's no comparison because you can't compare a lion and a tiger.

You can't compare them. They're both cats, but they're not the same. Lion is the king of the jungle. Everybody bows down to the line. The tiger, I don't stop the tiger from Lissom, I'm a bad one too. Tigers are, yeah. Tigers are scary. You know, it is.

He makes an interesting point, though. Magic. I always felt that LeBron was much more Magic Johnson. Yes. Less Michael Jordan. The late Kobe was more Michael Jordan. But if you look at LeBron, your game becomes your personality. So Magic and LeBron on the court can be finishers, but they're givers first.

They're not takers. And that's not a shot at NBA. It's just they're very giving. If you look at LeBron and Magic off the court, magic is. Magic is all about LA's biggest celebrity. And LeBron has all his childhood friends

with him along for the ride. And it's interesting when you talk LeBron and MJ, they're just different people. And like, LeBron's always been more magic, but because he's such a profound score and we see magic

as more of a distributor, which you could also give you 42 in the finals, but you become your personality, and LeBron and Magic have always been kind of more similar to me than dissimilar. Michael and LeBron That's why the comparison is always like,

well, are we going to go by stats? Because they're different players. Yeah, that's why it's a never-ending debate because it depends on what the criteria is. If it's championships, all right, MJ wins. Is it stats? LeBron is eventually going to win because he's played for as long as he has

at the level that he's played. JR is right. Like, you're comparing both cats, yeah, but like very different. But you're not messing with a lion or a tiger any more than the other. Like you do you have a choice. Which one are you picking?

I'll take neither. I think we're into this way more than players. I think players just now they're The reality is also it's a team sport, right? So it's not an individual sport. Tennis players, you can compare them to each other, right? Cyclists, you can compare to each other. Track and field.

Like an individual sport, you can safely compare golfers. Like, there's an equal measurement. You're playing the same game and it's on you, right? Now, maybe the game has changed or the rules or whatever. Then you get into era conversations. But when it comes to team sports, it's almost impossible to ever have that conversation. We don't have this conversation when it comes to the NFL. Like, no, there's no consensus, best NFL player of all time.

You ask any individual person, you'll get a bunch of different responses. Basketball's always been driven largely by style. Right. And so it depends on the style you like. Dr. Jay was very flamboyant. I mean, the hands, the swooping dunks. And there's other players who averaged as much as Dr. J. But didn't jump four inches off the floor.

But it also is a star sport. You know, you see the player's faces. is it's a very intimate sport. You're right there on the court. So it's a different style of sport to begin with as well. It's less guys on the team. You feel, you know, you wear the jersey. You know, you're not going to wear a football jersey out sometimes.

Like there's so many things to look into it. But it's probably a better comparison to compare all-time greats within what they do and the style of how they play than it is just to say, you know, this one's better than the other. I still think it's the best, though. So Clemson wide receiver, Justin Ross, got some. devastating news. He will miss the entire 2020 season with a congenital fusion that was discovered in his spine. Davos, when he said Justin is frustrated because he feels fine, but he is hoping to be healthy enough to decide between returning to Clemson or declaring for the draft in 2021.

He's scheduled to have surgery on Friday. So really bad news for Justin Ross and for Clemson. He thought, he separately thought was a stinger during a scrimmage in the final practice session before the pandemic ended spring workouts. The next day, team doctors, said that the x-rays revealed the issue, which Ross has had since birth, but he just wasn't aware of it. So really, really bad. Thank God for the doctors. Yeah, glad that they found it, obviously. They wouldn't have found it otherwise if he hadn't had this, this what was he thought was a minor injury, but he is going to have surgery on that. Finally, the bills are well aware that the AFC East is up for grabs now that Tom Brady has left the Patriots, but Buffalo safety, Jordan

Poirer, still wishes he would have had another chance to get a win against Brady. With 12 out of the division, like you said, it makes it wide open. And, you know, that's on us in order to take advantage of that. And so, you know, I'd say it is bittersweet having Tom out of the division just because I had never beaten Tom. So I'm about Owen. I think I'm like, oh, and not against Tom. I definitely want to get a dozen in that column. But not, like I said, it's a great opportunity for us to seize, man.

And like I said, we got the pieces there. And it's just just continue to work and trust in the process. Of all the teams that Tom Brady has owned, I think the bills is number one. Well, it's an old thing in baseball is that even the greatest hitters, they hit the number three, four, and five pitchers. They don't hit the aces and the best closer. Tom Brady's record against good teams is good, but he made a lot of hay on the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets.

And the Dolphins. And by the way, if you go look at Big Ben's record against like Cincinnati in Cleveland, that's not to say that they're not great, but the great quarterbacks and the great baseball hitters, they make up a lot of their numbers and legacy on average. And there's nothing wrong with that. You play who you play. That's the breaks that happened.

That's why Peyton Manning being moved out of Tom Brady's division early in his career is part of the dynasty. Tom would not have gone to the playoffs year after year. And if he did, he certainly would have not had home field advantage. So it's like that's a big move in Tom's career is that Peyton Manning was going to be in a division and they took him out. So they both won their divisions. Neither won. Tom would have won more early, I think, because of the defense around him.

And Peyton probably would have won more late and they would have far less dominance in the record books. Listen, you've got to be a little lucky in these things as well. Obviously, you want to prepare and you want to work hard and all those things. but there's a little bit of luck involved in all this too. Seattle was willing to trade Scotty Pippen to Chicago, or it doesn't happen. Michael's just a great score. We're not talking six for six.

You got to have breaks. That's how it goes. By the way, Doug Collins got Michael to the playoffs. They fired him and took his assistant up. If Jerry Krause doesn't make that move, Phil probably gets an offer somewhere else, and Michael doesn't get to the championship level.

Doug Collins was good. Phil was a different level. with Michael. So it's like there, even the goat, Brady and Michael got a series of breaks that help it all happen. There's a very thin line between luck and genius. Yeah. I mean, it's, again, the guy on the yacht drinking the wine's a genius. You know, the guy in his porch or in the alley drinking it, you know, we have a different opinion of him. Like, sometimes success is luck and your view differently because of your actions and, well, he's a genius. He's eccentric. I will say luck favors the prepared, right? More often than not. You need.

to be in place to be lucky. But you also do have to have a little bit luck. We view people's actions differently if they're more successful. You ever notice that? Once you're successful, you're going to pass on everything. Of course. I mean, that's how things have to happen. You have to be in place to make that decision

to get lucky, obviously, which takes a lot of hard work, not dismissing hard work. But sometimes things go your way. You're Tom Brady. You end up in a division with the dysfunctional jets and bills and dolphins. Yeah, we've got a dynasty. Yeah, joy with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Nick Wright, Peter King, both had stuff interesting to say about the cowboys and eagles earlier, and we'll bring that back. That was always my theory on, be careful how you judge people. You ever driven down the freeway and you drive down the freeway and somebody's eating in their car? And if the person's skinny, he just has, you know, that's his family history, his genetics. We're like, look at that guy. He's on the go.

he doesn't have time to eat. He is a go-getter. And then somebody has different genetics are a little heavy eating and you're like, I mean, look it. He won't stop. He can't even stop eating in his car. And it's like, well, it could be genetics and stuff.

It's just two guys having a hamburger who are driving on the L.A. freeway. We've all looked at somebody eating in a car. But if they're skinny, we're like, well, he just doesn't have time to eat. He's on the go-getter. That guy doesn't even have time for lunch. We judge it differently, potentially on your build.

We should do less of that, I think. Less judge. based off what people look like, I think so, yes. And less eating in our cars on the 405 freeway. Yeah, that's not safe. I was guilty of that yesterday. Peter King, Nick writes some thoughts coming up next. One more herd?

The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHard Radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Good to have you in. Peter King stopped by earlier today. So he ranked 1 through 32, his favorite teams in the NFL. So put the graphic up, guys. I disagree. You know, listen, I'm not offended by it because this whole league's crazy. So Peter King's Power Rankings are Chiefs 1, Ravens 2, Saints, 49ers. He has Tampa Bay very high.

I think Tampa's going to be really good. I'm not sure I have him there, but I think they'll be good. Seahawks 6. So his first 6, I totally agree with. He likes the Titans more than I like him. I don't like the Titans. I think Ryan Tannihil, they were hiding him during the playoffs. Raiders, he likes him as 8. I don't. I think it's hard when you move. I don't go look at the last like 9 teams that have moved. They don't win the first year. Like, that doesn't work like that. He's got the Cowboys at 9, slightly above where I have him. He likes the Steelers more than I do at 10. Then he's got Vikings, Packers,

bills, Colts, Eagles, Rams. You know, we, he didn't like Cleveland. I do like Cleveland. He likes Pittsburgh more than I like him. I like Philadelphia. He's got him at 15 Cowboys at 9. I'd reverse that. I think Philadelphia is better than Dallas. I like their coach more. I like their quarterback more. I like their GM more. and I like their line play consistency more on the defensive side.

But that's Peters. And I could go through it all, but most of the teams you don't care for after that. But I did ask him, he thinks the Cowboys will be better than the Eagles. I think the inverse is true. And he talked about that. Why? If you tell me right now that Phillies win in the division and they're going to beat Dallas by two games, I would say I could see that.

I put Dallas ahead of them, I think, for a couple of reasons. Number one, I think that there's a better chance to get a consistent season from Dack Prescott the whole season than Carson Wentz. And why do I say that? It's because Carson Wentz, you don't know if he's going to play a full season. And then secondarily, you know, you're really relying on some youth on the offensive side of the ball in Philadelphia. Look, I could see Philadelphia being a top 10 team in the league this year. it's just that, you know, like last year, they need to beat Seattle one of the two times they play

them in like the last seven weeks of the year, once in November, once in the wild card round. They score nine points both times. It's just, you know, there's something about Philadelphia that I'm just a little skeptical about. Yeah, I like Philadelphia because I think they had two major issues, both on the perimeter corner. They got Darius Slay and then wide receiver. They got Marquis Good one from San Francisco, Al-Shon Jeffrey, Deshawn Jackson's back, and they drafted a kid first round to TCU. Philadelphia is weird.

They've had these just cluster injuries for like year after year. Probably part of it is they have an older roster. Maybe that's it. Nick Wright basically, he talked about the Cowboys being an elite team. I don't see him as a top 10 team. Many people in my profession do. Here's Nick Wright on him. To me, Dallas's question, what will determine do they win nine games or do they win 12 games?

Are these two things? Can DAC take a full step forward? forward this year from a guy who's somewhere from the ninth to the 13th best quarterback in football to where he's firmly entrenched in that upper tier and how big of an upgrade are you getting from Jason Garrett to Mike McCarthy? If both of those questions are answered positively, then I think they can be a 12-win football team. Yeah, we'll see. So we get to another show today, Joy Taylor. We had Stephen Jackson, Nick Wright, Peter King, and Dante Stallworth. A lot of peaceful protest last night, at least where I live. I watched, you know, your local NBC, ABC, Fox, and

CBS affiliates. That's how it landed for me. Now, yesterday I went home and a little more normalcy, kind of hung up with my son and did a bunch of dad's son, goofy stuff in the pool, walking around town. How about you? How was your day yesterday? I didn't leave the house. Didn't kind of hung out. Yeah. I mean, that's what I do most days, so that's really not anything new. You're a homebody. Yeah. That's what I've, that's what I've learned throughout this quarantine is that actually not too much has really changed. On the weekends, yes, but I'm a routine person. You know, I did undisputed for two years and you have to get up very early in the morning,

320 in the morning, at least for me, to get to work for a 4 a.m. call, and that makes you a routine person. If you want to get any sleep in your life, you've got to, you know, do things throughout your day so that you're in bed at a certain time. What's it like to? I've never been on that shift before in my life. What is it like to get up at 3.30 in the morning? Well, I always say it's not 3.30 in the morning. It's the middle of the night because that's, I mean, 3.30 in the morning is the middle of the night. Like, if you ever been like, yeah, I've got to get up at 3 in the morning. No. Like, if you wake up in 3 in the morning, you roll over and you get some water and use the afternoon you go back to sleep. But your day is done at 9 o'clock.

Yeah, but you're just ruined, right? You're just tired all day. You go home and take a nap and then your day kind of starts over again. Goulae's shaking his head. Goulae, you've been on that ship before? I did six months of getting up at 3 a.m. What was it like? It's awful. I agree with Joy. Right, 4 a.m. is the cutoff. 4 a.m. and a beyond is early in the morning before 4 is middle of the night. Yeah, that's how it is. But I will say, though, on the weekends, like Friday, you're done at 9 a.m.

So you essentially have a three-day weekends every weekend, which is nice. You can travel. Is that how you rationalized it? Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you're done at 9 a.m. And on Friday, you got that extra, like, little bursts. You know, it's like it's a weekend. I'm done.

You know, so I got into a routine. So that's kind of how I carry it over into this show. I'm just a routine person now. Or maybe I'm getting older. Who knows? Could be that. We get more into our habits as we age, right? Get your free credit scorecard today, even if you're not a Discover customer.

It includes your FICA credit score and checking your scorecard will not hurt your credit. Learn more at discover.com slash credit scorecard. Limitations apply. We'll see you tomorrow. Back in Los Angeles. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you.

you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 podcast. 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 year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to Look Back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

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