The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers

Episode Date: July 29, 2019

Colin explains why the Dallas Cowboys will most likely give in to Ezekiel Elliot, where he would rank Dak Prescott, why the NFL Network’s top 100 list is off, and why more people are critical of Aaron Rodgers. Plus topics he’s tired of hearing and where he was right and wrong over the weekend. Guests include Doug Gottlieb, Bucky Brooks, and Marcellus Wiley.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

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What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was harmed. you just understood.

That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Mark keep coming to her. He's like, you know, I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball.

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This is the herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We are live in Los Angeles on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. Joy Taylor has emerged from the desert in Arizona. She and Scorpions, the only ones that survived this weekend of 120 degrees. It was 150 degrees. It was 150. Yes. But it was beautiful where we stayed, and Earl was in an air conditioning gym for the college basketball academy with the NCAA. So it was a good weekend. But yes, it was hot right now. I was up in Lake Cortalene, Idaho, which was 79 degrees in beautiful for cancer charity. So we had kind of disparate weekends. But we land back here. It is a Monday. We have a ton of stuff today. Great video out. Good stories.

So I want to talk about the Dallas Cowboys. I've been leading with them for a week because, as I've told you, I would trade Ezekiel Elliott for lots of draft picks. Amari Cooper said yesterday, one year left in his contract, I want to be here. I'm not holding out. I don't even want to talk about it. That's a media topic. Dak Prescott said, I'll get to it when I get to it, even though I'm a fourth round pick. By the way, Jason Garrett only has one year this year on his contract.

He said, it's not a topic. Zeke, two years left is holding out. Not to mention, he just got out of the principal's office with Roger Good a month ago, and he's still acting up. So let me just start with this. I do not. I'll let you inside the way I see life a little bit. I don't like to be trapped economically.

I hate it. This is why I eat before I go to airports. I get a sandwich before I go to an airport. So if my flight's delayed, I'm not paying $18 for a chicken sandwich. This is why I eat before I go to games. So I don't pay $27 for average nachos. I don't like being trapped economically. some stuff I have to pay for.

I got to pay for gas, and it's expensive in California. You know, I got to pay for groceries. You know, groceries can be expensive in California. But I don't like being trapped economically. So I eat before I go to airports and I eat before I go to games. And I'll do that the rest of my life. It doesn't matter what I make. I don't like being trapped.

The Dallas Cowboys, now NFL owners and NBA owners are different. NBA owners usually cave. NFL owners, it's a 50-50 split. Whether they pay somebody in a holdout. I think Dallas is going to cave and I think Jerry's going to cave because he loves Zeke. Jerry's in his own personal life was imperfect and sometimes need to be monitored. And I think Jerry can relate to players. That's why Jerry's always seen himself as a young oil maverick.

He's a risk taker. He's fun. He's a social drinker. He's out there telling stories. Flirting with the world. That's who Jerry Jones is. So I think he supports players who make mistakes can be a little young, a little childish. and that's Jerry's kind of guy.

He has a history. But this is where I wouldn't want to be Dallas. They're trapped. The reason Pittsburgh was not trapped with Lavian Bell is Pittsburgh drafts a running back every year. I mean, they draft the James Connor. This year they got a kid out of Kentucky, Benny Snell. New England's never trapped. They didn't need running backs.

They had the deepest running back cord in the league last year outside of Cleveland. New England drafted another running back. Philadelphia's got like five guys. They drafted another running back. Philadelphia, New England, Pittsburgh. The reason they don't get trapped on running backs, they just keep drafting them. Meanwhile, the Cowboys went out and drafted finally another running back, Tony Pollard, who was the second best running back at his college.

He's more of a receiver than he is a running back. So Dallas now is economically trapped. They're trapped. They've got to pay him. And I think they will pay him and they'll work it out. But this is one of the things I just don't like being. And I think if you watch the better run teams in the NFL, I think the Colts now, multiple backs.

Eagles, multiple backs. I think in New England, multiple backs. Pittsburgh's got multiple capable backs. Cleveland, give John Dorsey credit. Cleveland's got multiple backs. That's the way, in my opinion, to do it. You don't get trapped economically because when a position and running back is now an inevitably unavoidably violent position in football, it just is.

By the way, the Chargers with Melvin Gordon, they're not trapped. They'd prefer him, but the chance. Chargers are not trapped. The Rams a little bit now. They just drafted a running back at the end of last year. The Rams felt trapped with Todd Gurley. Paying him a tonny's hurt. So what do they do?

Their second pick this year, the Rams went out and got another running back. So I think Dallas is going to pay them. I don't like paying people two years early. I would not cave if I was Jerry Jones. But if you look at his history, you look at the running back situation right now for Dallas. I don't think they have a choice. They backed themselves economically into a corner. They now have to pay, you know,

They got to pay $17 for a chicken sandwich at an airport. They're going to have to pay $19 for a Heineken at a baseball stadium. That's where the Cowboys are. They got to have him. They back themselves into a corner. Linebackers, they got a couple. You know? Wide receivers, they've got a couple I like.

Running back, they got a dude. One, they're going to have to pay him. All right. So let me shift to this. So the NFL network does this every year. they list their 100 best players. And they release like 10 at a time, 10 at a time. And they always throw a curveball in there or something just to get guys like me to talk about it.

I'm a sucker for lists. And so they get me every year. And this year, it's not egregious, but we now have a new player in the NFL that is completely disrespected. And his name is Deshawn Watson. He's the quarterback for Houston. So the NFL network put Baker Mayfield ahead of Deshawn Watson. And this list, by the way, is always based on last year.

It's voted on by players. So one of my big problems I have with the American sports media, and I would say this is my biggest problem with the American sports media. We never consider what you're surrounded by. If you're good, it's because you're great. And if you're bad, it's because you're terrible. Well, that's not the way I'm doing the best show I've ever done in my life. That's because I'm surrounded by the best management and the best group of coworkers.

We never in sports consider, well, what is this guy's offensive? line like? What did he inherit? Who's his coach? So, Baker Mayfield and Deshawn Watson. Now, never forget this. Baker Mayfield comes into the league. He inherits Jarvis Landry, a 90-catch pro-bowl receiver. He inherits David and Joku, first or second best tight end. He inherits three good running backs. He inherits an offensive guy, Hugh Jackson, and Todd Haley, veteran offensive guys. Deshawn Watson comes into the league. He inherits the worst offensive line in the NFL,

marginal to blow average tight ends. They don't have any running backs of note. And he has one great receiver, which of course is always hard to throw to when you're on your arse running for your life. So NFL network today, Baker's better than Deshawn. Let me give you a few numbers. Last year, Deshawn Watson won 11 games.

Baker won six. Well, Baker's a very accurate precision passer. Really? Because behind the worst offensive line in the league, Deshawn Watson completed 68% of his throws, Baker 64. Well, well, well, but Baker, yards. Deshawn Watson, check. Interceptions.

Baker 14, Deshawn 9. And oh, by the way, I'm not even mentioning the fact that one of them won the high jump championship in the ninth grade in Georgia. One of them maybe is the best athlete in the league of quarterback, Deshaun Watson, five rushing touchdowns and 550 yards rushing, behind an atrocious offensive line with no tight ends and no running game. NFL Network. Are you just trying to get under my skin?

Are you watching the games? Now, over the next 10 years, who knows what happens? But in terms of leadership qualities, let me remind you of something Deshawn Watson did last year. with a punctured effing lung. They couldn't fly him to a game. They had to bust him to a game. They went 0-3 to start the season, Houston.

And this is what leadership looks like. Deshawn Watson put the team on his back in one nine straight games. History of the NFL had never happened. In the history of the NFL had never happened. That a guy opens the season, O'N3 and wins nine straight. Brady didn't do it. Montana didn't do it. Peyton Manning didn't do it.

Brett Farrb didn't do it. Y.A. Tiddle probably didn't do it. Deshawn Watson with a punctured lung behind the worst offensive line in the league did it. You got to be kidding me. We have a new guy in the league that's the most disrespected. By the way, Nick Sabin twice had six weeks to prepare

for Deshawn Watson and couldn't stop him. Johnny Mansell beat Nick Sabin once after Bamad played back-to-back tough games, then a third straight week. Johnny Manzell had a great first half and basically Saban figured him out at half time. He had six weeks twice to prepare for Deshaun Watson and couldn't figure him out.

Baker inherited a great situation. Veteran offensive coaches, pro ball receiver, fledgling superstar, tight end, tremendous running back group. Deshawn Watson's been dealing with an albatross of a no line, no separators at tight end. One great receiver, but he's doubled, and it's hard to consistently get the ball to people when you're on your back.

I mean, this is the classic example of can we at least acknowledge what people are working with? Even Kobe Bryant, one with Shaq and one with Powell Gasol. How'd Kobe do in between that? Not much. What did Bill Coward do as a Steeler coach? What did the Steelers do between Brad and,

Bradshaw and Big Ben, that's with great owners, good GMs, great Hall of Fame coaches, Cowron Tom. What did they do between Brad Sean Big Ben? They were the lions. Do anything. They weren't winning championships. Lord, can we just acknowledge that some people in life grow up with rich parents? Some people grow up with poor parents.

It's kind of an advantage. Sam Darnold, and I know you think this is a Darnold thing, Donald inherited a horrible O line, no receivers, a good tight end who now is suspended for the first four games and no backs. You think he's going to struggle a little with a defensive coach? I mean, come on, folks. We got to consider what people in life inherit. Where do they come from? Do they have to deal with a chaotic family, a chaotic offensive line, a coach?

I mean, NFL network at this point is just trying to make me mad. I'm convinced that that's the whole game now. What list can we do that coward will talk about? I am tired of it. They got a great seafood in Idaho all weekend or I would be in a terrible mood. Great seafood in Idaho? Trout. I went to a party.

Northwest has good food. Lakes everywhere. Trout, salmon. Oh, it was Lord. And you were looking at scorpion scurry across. I did not see a scorpion, thank God. I actually didn't even think about a scorpion all weekend, which is probably good because if I had, I probably would have panicked out. Because they climb in your shoes.

Oh, no, no, they, they, they, I don't. last time, I mean, I love Arizona. Last time I was at a resort, there was a scorpion on campus. Yeah, the guy, the guy, when you check in, is like, there's scorpions back there. I'm like, that's like one time I went, I was in Orlando, and a friend of mine, Trace Gallagher was a good water skier. He used to be a professional water skier. Now he works for Fox News. And we went on a lake jet skiing.

And I said, he's a great water skier. I'm lousy. And I said, is there any, uh, um, alligators? Alligators in the lake. For sure. Now, the answer I was looking for was no. That's not. That would be a lot, though.

He goes, yeah, but they hate the noise a boat motor makes. That's not the answer I'm looking for. I mean, there's definitely an alligator in there. He's like, oh, they're all over here, but they don't like the noise of the boat motor. So for the next two, three hours, I was trying to figure out how to sound like a boat motor when I fell off his keys. Just kick it around. Yes, there's definitely alligators there. Coming up next.

Oh, my lord, somebody else was critical of Aaron Rogers. I am not a hater. I am not alone, and that is coming up next. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific. On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHeard Radio app. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying,

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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 all. is blue of 42. Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What?

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Through the years, I talk a lot about football and a lot about quarterbacks within football. And just sort of the way it works is there are certain quarterbacks, and this is the way the critics, media, when it comes to politics, football, sports quarterbacks, they have their favorites. And they tend to gloss over any of their mistakes. And I see this in my business all the time. The media picks their favorites, and that's who they like. and it doesn't matter if you outperform him. Aaron Rogers is the media favorite. Now, Aaron's very, very talented.

I said last week, I think after Andrew Luck, he's the most valuable quarterback in the league in the last decade, Luck, Rogers, and then Russell Wilson. They win with inferior defenses, O-lines, and rosters. So for the record, I do not discount Aaron Rogers greatness. But I don't believe over the last four years he's been the Aaron Rogers that the media built up. now he's not the same quarterback and it just continues to be fandom.

So Bucky Brooks played in the NFL scout and certainly his name gets mentioned for general manager jobs said Aaron's overrated. He wrote an article this week. The first thing he said is last week Mike Sando, the Athletic did an article, talked to 55 executives and Bucky said, how do you make Aaron Rogers number one? He goes, if you look at his first 109 games in his career and his last 50, he's a 500 quarterback in his last 50 that doesn't win big road games, completes only 62% of his throws, his passer ratings in the mid-90s,

and it's almost a yard and a half less than the first 109 games in his career. And then Bucky goes on to say, everybody wants to say, well, Aaron's not as healthy. But Bucky Brooks, who looks at film for a living, says, yes, the static nature of the offense has been frequently cited as one of the reasons, McCarthy's boring offense without motion. but he says the all-22 coaches film, which by the way is accessible to all players, he says it also reveals a quarterback with a preference over a three-point shot over a lamp. Aaron would rather launch the ball down field off an impromptu scramble than take the cheap yards available on a checkdown to the running back.

This is precisely what Greg Kosell told us multiple times, starting with three years ago on this show. The reality is when you watch Aaron Rogers, and it takes nothing away from his performances over the years, but he's not truly a rhythm player, Colin. He's kind of an offbeat player, an off rhythm player. He's more like a jazz beat. He's a second reaction player. And very often, there are throws that are there within the rhythm of the play and the timing of the play, and he doesn't make those throws. Now, he might move around and then make another throw, but really good defense is where that doesn't work. It's tough to be consistent that way against higher level defenses. Thank you. And that's the point.

This is why I say Aaron Rogers has become Big Ben. Stop comparing Rogers to Brady. Brady is Drew Breeze. Precision accuracy, get rid of the ball, don't get hit. Rogers has become Big Ben, where they're becoming, quote, spectacular play quarterback. You don't win Super Bowls that way. You win Super Bowls by 1,000 cuts. That's how Drew run hit.

That's how Tom wins his. That's how Matt Ryan got to a Super Bowl. That is, by the way, how Jared Gough last year. If I said, you greatest play last year by Jared Gough, none stick out. Death by a thousand cuts in Sean McVeigh system, Robert Woods, Cooper Cup, hand the ball off. Aaron Rogers and Big Ben, to me, are, we don't look at them physically the same. They're very comparable. They've aged.

They're a little stubborn. Their willingness to hold on to the ball, has gotten them dinged up a little. We question both of their leadership skills fairly, in my opinion, often. And this is what Greg Kosell said. They've become spectacular play quarterback. I can remember Ben against the Jaguars up the left sideline to Antonio Brown, but when you need a seven-yard curl for a first down, Ben whizzes it over the guy's head.

And you do not get to Super Bowls as spectacular play quarterback. Why? Because good teams don't give it up. How many times does New England ever get it? give up a big touchdown pass in a playoff game. They just don't. David Tyree, super glue on his helmet. Think about all the Super Bowls with New England.

How many big plays have they given up? They just don't. And spectacular play quarterback, the pom-pom waivers, and the fans love them in the regular season. But then you face a Pete Carroll defense or a Belichick defense. And you just don't get them. You just don't get them. So, uh, I, Bucky Brooks.

It's just nice to know that me and Bucky now are fighting off. I have a cohort fighting off 1,200 palm-pom-waving Aaron Rogers fans. Maybe Gottlieb. I'll give him a chance to be real. Keep it real. Joy Taylor, fresh off a vacation in Yemen. Phoenix. But it's very hot, yes.

Heard line news. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. So as we know, Zach is in the final. final year of his rookie contract. His schedules will make a little over $2 million in base salary. He'll be the 38th highest paid quarterback in the league this season.

Yeah, while going 32 and 16 as a starter in his three seasons as Cowboys quarterback. He said, though, I'm not here to talk about my contract and that stuff. Talks, I'm sure, at this point are continuously happening. For me, it's to come out here and focus on this, not be distracted by any of that stuff, any of that conversation, just focus on being better and just being the best player I can be and making sure everyone around me is as well. It'll happen when it happens. And I know I'll be better by the time

the regular season starts. As I said, that's my focus. So, that's what he's interested in doing, which is playing football, which is always what DAC is about. And this is once again why they should just pay him. It doesn't make any sense to me. I know everyone is very resistant to him getting the amount of money that he's getting. But as

we do with every quarterback who becomes the highest paid quarterback, eventually, they won't be the highest paid quarterback because that's how it works. The next guy up gets more money. And had they done this a few months ago, they wouldn't have been going up against Carson Wentz's contract because it's kind of like him and Carson Wentz are married in that sense. And they would have been able to pay him a reasonable amount.

But he has all the leverage. And the situation with Zeke, as we talked about earlier, is just getting more intensified because they're in a situation where they really need these guys. I want to pay my quarterback before Patrick Mahomes gets paid Because when Patrick Mahomes get his contract, he's going to move the bar up like 12% higher than anybody's comfortable paying their quarterback. And rightly deserved. But that's the market and that's the business. And everyone gets really in their emotions and gets really crazy about what the quarterbacks are paid.

Go and take a look at a team who hasn't had a quarterback for two decades and ask them what they would be willing to pay for a DAC Prescott. And an executive told me years ago, he just, he said, you just don't want to be in chaos. because I was talking about Andy Dalton once and he goes, listen with Andy, you're not in chaos. You may not win playoff games, but there was one year when Romo got hurt pre-Dak it was chaos for the Cowboys. I mean, John Goulet, I can remember that year.

John didn't sleep. John would not show up for work. It ruined John's life. Sunday became the worst day of the week. Right, because those seasons are awful and you never forget them. Now imagine having multiple seasons like that. So a team that doesn't experience a whole lot of that,

at least not recently, is the Steelers. Tomlin received a one-year extension through 2021 last week with a team option for 2022. Well, apparently some of the minority owners did not want the Rooney family to extend Mike Tomlin. You're talking about people that own like 10, 12% of the team. Yeah, very little amount. And certainly don't have power over the franchise. And apparently back in 2018, some other minority owners wanted Art Rooney to fire Mike Tomlin. He is entering his 13th season as the Steelers head coach.

He's never had a losing season. And one of only five coaches ever to not have a losing season in their first 12 seasons as a head coach. 125, 66, and 1 is his record as a head coach. And obviously won a Super Bowl. I saw a story the other day. Many people believe he linked up his contract with Big Ben or the Roonies did. A lot of people think they'll leave together. They'll leave together.

Which would be the idea that I have to find a coach and a coach. quarterback? Like, you better have that. It's hard enough to just find one of those. I do think there is an interesting balance in sports where you may have an all-time talents like Peyton Manning, like Ben Rathesberger, like a Mike Tomlin, and you want the consistency and the winning that comes with it, but it comes a point where you realize you're never going to get over whatever hump that is. It's a good interesting situation with the Panthers and Ron Rivera, right? Like, you have a great coach, but when is a situation gone on for just a little bit too long?

See, this is where... Situation in Green Bay. I'll defend Carolina and Pittsburgh on this. Is that, but when I think of Carolina and Pittsburgh, I think of well-run. Right. Okay, I don't have a bunch of Super Bowls. What you don't want to be is the Jets. When I think of the Jets, I'm like, man overboard.

When I think of Detroit and Cleveland, like, my thing is, Carolina and Pittsburgh may not be winning Super Bowls, but I'll tell you what, if I was a scout or a coordinator, and there was a job board and Carolina and Pittsburgh posted a job, I'm applying for those jobs because they won't fire me and I have to take my daughters and move in and out of cities. Like I think there's value in saying, you know what? I think it's huge to get top coaches and scouts. And Carolina and Pittsburgh are stable stash. Right.

And particularly Pittsburgh, that organization is known for not firing coaches. So the next few years with the Steelers are going to be interesting as far as how they handle that moving forward. So we're all very excited about Zion Williamson, and we're all very enamored with his physicality and his size, and he turned 19 earlier this month in his 6-7. He's listed at 285 pounds. He's the second heaviest player in the NBA. Well, David Griffin had an interesting thought. He said, Zion is still getting taller.

We're not exactly sure what he'll look like in the end. So playing weight is not what you look for. you look for what is to be in top condition to have the kind of core strength and stability, you need to control all the incredible torque that his athleticism can generate. Now, I do agree with him on the core strength, but he's right. He could actually grow. This is not unheard of. Girls stop growing at about 14.

Boys have weird gross first. Yeah, I think I stopped growing about 12. But, yeah, guys grow very, very, for a very long time. My brother grew two inches in college. Wow. Yeah, he was 6'4, and he was. Now he's 6-6. Paul George said he grew two inches when he was 21.

See, boys are different. By the way, this is why I've heard this before, why girls get offered scholarships at like 13 years old. It's not strange because you look at a 13-year-old athletic girl. You're like, that's kind of the body you're going to get in college. Where boy, I grew seven inches, my junior to senior year. Yeah. Yes, guys grow much later.

So imagine Zion could grow two more inches and that weight could distribute more evenly throughout his body. But, I mean, he's going to lose some weight, as we know. And once the season starts, just way more games and way more travel, and they're going to have him on a specific diet. And everyone's very concerned about his weight. But he grows too much is. So he was the second heaviest player in the league?

So is Embed the heaviest? No. Obon. Bobon. I'm sorry. Bobon. Okay. All right. Oh, 7-5 guys.

Yeah, they got a lot of space there. It's a space needle. Yeah, it's what I'm saying. Well, I don't think, I don't, I doubt science going to be 7-5. That would be quite a story. Yeah. Joy, with the news. Well, that's the news.

And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Lye News. Let's bring in Doug Gottlieb, the Dugger Fox Sports Radio after my show. It's a perfect time. We both love football now. It's moving into August and all these camps are opening up. So I started my show with, you know, like sometimes it's funny with athletes. Sometimes we gas them up.

And then all of a sudden we're like, we probably should have put on the brakes. And there's other guys. The Deshawn Watson Baker Mayfield, like I don't think Tom Brady and as good as I think Tom is. I think if you put him behind Houston's offensive line with Houston staff and running backs, I think Tom Brady's a 500 quarterback. DeShon Watson, if you look at what

he inherited to what Baker inherited, I think Deshawn's fairly remarkable, isn't he? Well, let's be fair to Baker Mayfield. They'd won one game in two years in terms of what they inherited. And I was driving in, I heard you say, Injoku's one of the top three. You don't like him. I like him when he's going to be.

like he's just really learning the position at the NFL level. Look, I agree if you told me that Cleveland had a lot better talent than their production would tell you. And they found a way even before he was installed as a starting quarterback. Remember, Terrod Taylor was a starting quarterback to start the season last year. They just found a way to lose games, like remarkably so. And he stabilized things. But if your question is, Deshaun Watson or Baker Mayfield,

I don't know a front office guy who probably wouldn't take Deshawn Watson. I think this is Deshaun Watson because of, and this is the best point you made, the attributes which we talk about with Baker Mayfield, right, leadership. Sean Watson's an amazing leader. Athleticism, ability to move the pocket. Deshaun Watson is better and he has better arm strength and he's taller where Baker Mayfield, one of the adjustments that the quality teams made against him was making him just, you know, blocking in a way,

I mean, attacking him in a way in which he had to throw over walls. Chargers did this great. Chargers did this. He couldn't see over the middle of the field, and he struggled some with it. Remember, Baker-Mayfield struggled against the good teams that they played. It was the bad teams. It was the Bengals' historically bad defense that they lit up

in terms of when he was able to garner some of those six wins. The teams they needed to beat, they did not beat, and he threw 10 touchdowns, 11 interceptions against the top defenses he saw. And there's going to be some growth there, whereas Deshawn Watson was coming off his second ACL, got better and better and better as learning to be an NFL quarterback. The one part that Baker does as well as anybody, his age, and maybe a little bit old in the NFL is he's unbelievable at processing information

to the line of scrimmage. He is a football savant. Yeah. But I would say Deshaun Watson's not far behind and his leadership, his athleticism, his size, his arm strength, and frankly his experience is better than Baker Mayfields. And I would agree with you. I don't take a ton into account in terms of this NFL rankings list.

I would take Deshaun ahead of Baker. Yeah. The whole cowboy thing is obviously, when selecting a quarterback, there are things that matter beyond good arm, obviously, leadership. There was a great story over the weekend I read where Jerry Jones said,

one of our sponsors wanted me and Dak to do a commercial the first year, and Dak needed the money. Dak asked his agent to call me and say, You know, Mr. Jones, I don't know that I deserve to look like I'm in a commercial with the owner. On behalf of the team, if you don't mind, I'd like to not be in that commercial. And Jerry said, no, you need the money. I'm going to step out of the commercial.

And I read that story. And I'm like, that's why I'm willing to pay, Dak. Like, Cowboy quarterback, Doug, I could make an argument. It used to be Yankee shortstop or Lakers best player. Cowboy quarterback is America's most pressurized position. That's a grown-up move. a 21-year-old kid who, by the way, drafted fourth round,

probably needed the money for a house. Yes, that's an it's not me. It's not you. It's me type of thing. It's a vet move. I mean, that's a power move right there. No, no, no, I'll step out. No, no, no.

This is the, when you go to the wallet, when I go to dinner with you, for example. I always go to the wallet, put the car in the table, and then you come in. I'm kidding. You never do that. But here's the problem. Is Dak Prescott's got a top 10 quarterback in the NFL?

No, no, no, no. Okay, so like, I understand you want to pay him slightly more because he has no off the field flaws, you know, since the DUI after college, whatever, which caused him to fall a little bit of draft. I mean, he doesn't have off the field flaws. I understand that because he was underpaid his first three years, you want to slightly overpay him. But are we really going to pay Dak Prescott $30 million when he's not any good in comparison to the best quarterbacks? When he doesn't have Tyron Smith, he can't set his feet, he's not accurate, you know, when he has to reload through his progressions. When he doesn't have Ezekieliot, they don't win. When they didn't have, when they didn't add Amari Cooper, the offense wasn't, you know,

wasn't staying on time on, you know, on target. So I think he's really good. I think he's stable. He's fine. But you've got to pay not just Ezekieliot eventually. I don't think you pay him this year. You got to pay Amari Cooper. You also got to pay Jalen Smith on the defense side of the ball.

Like, look, all of these things have to work together. And we're saying something without saying something, whether it's Mahalai homes, whether it's what's happened with golf, what's happened with the Cowboys. The genius to this is you draft a quarterback and while they're on that rookie contract, you're able to put a really good team around him. While they can grow, they can mature and potentially become a top 10, top 15 guy. That was the Andy Dalton thing. People forget this.

In Andy's first contract, he was surrounded by great players. As they peeled off, Andy became Andy, which is the third best quarterback usually in his division. The knock on deck I would make is Andy Dalton's first four years in this league, He had two of every, it was Noah's Ark, two backs, two tight ends, two receivers. Eventually they paid Andy and had to peel them off. Now, now, Russell Wilson, same thing. Same thing, Russell Wilson, right? They had a defense.

They had an offensive line. All of a sudden, they had to pay Russell, and they got to pick which one of the defensive players were going to standby. Russell, my eyes tell me Russell's intuitively a great player, where my eyes don't tell me Andy Dalton and Dak are great players. They tell me they're solid players you win with. Listen, this is why the salary caps are tough. The Yankees would just buy him, right?

Like, it's hard. Yeah. But even the Yankees, because the luxury tax have had to make some tough decisions over the years. And the Dodgers kind of the same. Look, I think that Prescott should be and will be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. But when you're managing Zeke, who just got out of the principal's office and wants to get paid a year early, and then you have a wide receiver you got to pay and you got to manage this. What's going on with the Cowboys is the pull of Jerry and how he used to run it and Stephen and how he wants to run it and knows it should be.

run. Right. And Stephen's going to win this. I'm telling you he's going to win this thing. They're not going to overpay DAC. They're not going to pay Zeeke this year. I believe that. I believe the old man is we hear you, we hear you, but we're running things now. The reason they've been so much better the past three years,

because people haven't looked historically since Troy retired, it's been a mess. And the reason it's been so much more solid is Stephen and his crew have been running things and managing salaries and for the most part, doing a better job. of it. And every once in a while, Jerry

steps out and says something crazy and gets himself into trouble. And he wants to pay those guys, but he's not dealing with the reality of running a football franchise in 2019. All right, Godleap, stick around back for more to Monday. Colin right, calling wrong. 20 minutes from now, it's the herd. Be sure to catch live

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This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my I want you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, Brett. My mama want you to wave at her. What?

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finals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcast. By the way, I was at an event this weekend with a lot of NFL people, and that Kyler Murray is fascinating. So an NFL guy told me, Doug Gottlieb's joining me. The reason Arizona took him is they looked in their division, and they're like, Russell Wilson, spectacular, Sean McVease, spectacular, Kyle Shanahan spectacular, we're going to have to score 28 points to win the division. We like Josh Rosen.

We need spectacular. And that's why they took Kiter Murray. Have you heard anything yet on him? The only thing I've heard out of Arizona camp was Robert Kemp, came in looking like Fat Albert, and they got rid of him. That was a first round pick. By Steve Kime, the same general manager. So, yeah, I mean, that's that part.

Their drafting has been a disaster. Here's what I had Mike Leach on my show and I had Mike Gundy on my show last week. Two of the best offensive coaches in college football. And I asked Mike, I asked him, I said, how important for the air raid offense is Cliff Kingsbury's success with the Arizona Cardinals? And he said, look, the Patriots were the first team to start taking air raid schemes and putting it into their offense. He said, the Pittsburgh Steelers last year ran a bunch of air raid schemes.

But this is a combination of two things. You have an air raid guy, a college coach, implementing his offense and a diminutive quarterback who, for the life of the NFL, we have seen the undersized quarterback mostly fail. Mostly fail. You were just talking about Russell Wilson, and you're right, he has become an electric top 10 quarterback in the Nashville Bowl League. It's important to point out that during his first season with the Seattle Seahawks,

he had nine games of less than 200 yards passing, right? The defense and the running game truly carried him for his first two years in the National Football League before he kind of could develop his. footing and they could find an offense in a scheme that worked, you know, worked with his size and his style of playing quarterback. They don't have that benefit with the Eras and a Cardinals. They had a terrible offensive line last year. The defense has its own issues.

And now it's going to be Kyler Murray kind of running for his life with two good wide receivers and a talented, they have talented skill position players, but I don't know how they block for him. I think this is a great test for is there a morphing of the college game and the pro game like we think there is. and we've seen other air raid quarterbacks, Pat Mahomes be successful. Obviously, we've talked a ton about Baker Mayfield

and their success, but this is a true test for how close to college game, the pro game, have become, or is it simply, you know, with limited instances? Because he is tiny. I don't think he's even as big as he measured out at the combine. I agree. And that has all the makings of a disaster in that, hey, we're going to give it to a young quarterback

and hope he wins games in that division. Yeah, in that division, by the way. is good. Yes. I mean, the Niners are a team that everyone knows eventually will hit. It's just a question of when. When? Not if.

So this weekend, Bucky Brooks wrote an article saying, listen, there's two Aaron Rogers. There's the first 1009 games. There's the next 49. And if you watch the Catch All 22 film, he has become very reliant on the spectacular play over the easy play. To which I say, that's my knock on Big Ben. Big Ben and Aaron, little rigid as they've age. World-class talents, first-bout Hall famers, kind of want to do things their way, and don't take the easy.

Brady's the master at taking the easy. So, you know, Aaron, you have a relationship. Where would you put Aaron all things in, 35-year-old Aaron, increasingly brittle today if you had to choose a quarterback next five years? The guy who's done the best job of quarterbacking is obviously Tom Brady, right? Like in terms of leading his team and finding a way. but like we are kind of forgetting the fact that Tom Brady was bad in the AFC championship game wasn't great in the Super Bowl. In the UFC championship game, that third interception,

that's against one of the worst defenses than Nash football league, right? D4's not off sides. We're having a completely different discussion. Air Rogers, don't take my word for it. Take the guys who put together teams in the NFL. Didn't you have the report that the GMs across the league said he's the best quarterback in the NFL? Well, some of those guys probably need to be fired.

Okay. I mean, that's like asking me and you, like, take our radio shows out of it. And if you asked us who has the best radio shows, we could kind of, we know a little bit more about our industry than other people. Now, did Aaron Rogers have a great year last year? By his own standards, no. But in a bad year where he wasn't along with his head coach, they had no running game. They had a young group of new wide receivers. He had, what, 25 touchdowns, two interceptions?

By the way, if what Bucky Brooks is saying is he only goes for the spectacular to play, wouldn't there be more intercept? wouldn't there be more mistakes? Don't get me wrong. I don't think he's easy to manage. I think he's he's incredibly bright and he's incredibly talented and he's been told he's incredibly bright and incredibly talented. And now he's got a ton of money and he has a ton of power. But he also is bright, talented, accurate. And if you want to go through all the boxes you need to be quarterback 2019 in the NFL, he has them, right? He moves the pocket with his feet. He can run he can run for a first down. He can make off time, off balance throws.

He can throw the deep ball. He's deadly accurate. He's tough. He's confident. He has experience. What doesn't he do other than he didn't get along with Mike McCarthy? And if Mike McCarthy is such a great head coach, why didn't he get a coaching job? Right?

The league has spoken. It's not my word for it. It's not your word for. It's not our analysis. The league says they think he's the best. And the league says that Mike McCarthy has to rethink things, has to retool things because he didn't get a job. when there were plenty available and they were calling for a guy who could relate to a head coach.

All these other jobs came open and he didn't get one. By the way, Baker Mayfield just screaming and yelling at players this weekend. What'd you make of that? I mean, he's the most powerful dude there. This is like Crimson Tide. Remember Crimson Tide, the movie? Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Who has the con. Baker Mayfield has the con. Like, don't kid yourself. That's the most powerful guy in Cleveland right now. Next to him is the general managers put together all. this talent. I mean, that makes you feel bad for the head coach who has no experience. But like, that's what it looks like. And by the way, it's interesting, the video that comes out of New England is the head coach screaming at the six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.

That's right. The video that comes out of Cleveland is Baker-Mayfield yelling as guys. But I honestly, I think that's football. I think that's what's supposed to be like. Yeah. I think that you have, he is a tremendous leader. And though he sometimes says things like he said about Duke Johnson, that he should keep his mouth shut, For the most part, guys that play with him want to play for. Yeah, I mean, I've always thought, like, whenever we show the video of Brady barking at Josh McDaniels, I kind of always give players a pass in games in practices. You bark.

That's what guys do. You're a point guard. You got to bark at the forward when he doesn't fill the lane in the break. Like, that's what sport. Now I have a problem. The Duke thing, the police video, the grabbing junk thing, pregame throwing balls at people. But I'm for barking at practice and games. I'm totally, my coaches, players, quarterbacks, bark.

I get it. I'm okay being yelled at. Yes. Well, that's why I think a lot of good analysts are good because they can take feedback because they've been yelled at during their time as players. Right. Like a lot of the guys are on TV. We're athletes and athletes, when they're coached, they're coached hard and they're yelled at.

The big thing is in relationships. When the talking stops, that's when a relationship ends. It's good that Cleveland is yelling and talking to each other. Doug Gottlieb, Dougher after our show. Colin Wright, Colin Wrong next. Good seeing you, bud, 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, hour two, live in L.A. in a Monday. This is The Herd, wherever you may be and however you may be listening. We're on IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio and FS1. Chris Collinsworth, NBC Sunday Night Football, joins us in 30 minutes. Don't get Chris on much every couple years. He may stop by the show.

Of course, he's one of those guys that he was one of the first guys to go in on pro football focus. He's one of the big investors. That's his company, right? You love Pro Football Focus. It's built for nerds. I'm a giant nerd. Joy Taylor's voice, that's who you hear on radio and watch on TV. Joy, how are you?

I'm great. So on Mondays, you know, I have a lot of opinions, and I think it's only fair that if I'm wrong on my opinions. I come in on Monday and say, yeah, whiffed on that, good on that. We call it Colin right, Colin wrong, so let's not waste any time. Here we go. Where Colin was right. I said from day

one, Dak Prescott didn't have an arm that I love. I didn't have the size I love, but there's something about that square jaw. Always says the right thing. He just reeks of leadership. This weekend, a story came out from Jerry Jones. He said, quote, one of our sponsors wanted me and Dak to do a commercial the

first year and Dak was a fourth-rounded or needed the money. Dak said, Mr. Jones, I don't know with this team that I deserve to be in a commercial with the owner. On behalf of the team, if you don't mind, I'd like not to be in that commercial. Jerry Jones said, kid, you're in it. I'll pull myself out. That's why you pay him. Again, I'd rather pay him 28 than 32.

This is why you pay him. Professional sports is overwhelmingly 22 to 31-year-old young men. Now they're rich young men. You've got to have a grown-up in the room. and I think DAC always answers the bell when it comes to savvy and self-awareness. This is a kid I'd pay. Again, we can barter over the pay thing. And I do think being a cowboy quarterback is worth more than that is just on the paper.

But this is classic Dak Prescott. Mike opens, says the smart thing. And this is a great story because none of us knew about it until this weekend. And I think it's why you have to pay Dak. A franchise quarterback, that's the kind of self-awareness as a real. rookie. That's not yesterday. That was as a rookie when he was making 400 grand a year. Where Colin was wrong. Well, I'll believe it when I see it, but oh, Russell Westbrook sounded like he was going to sit over in the corner and watch Hardin' Play at a press

conference Friday in Houston. He sounded like the good neighbor. State Farm is there. He was supportive. Here he goes. Me and Jane's been friends for many, many years since I was 10, actually. We played with each other for a million years in Oklahoma City. And to be able to win something, you've got a better sacrifice some parts of your game. And we both understand that. We both understand that we have one common goal,

and that's the winning championship. So we understand what we have to do. I'm not worried about it. I know James is not worried about it. I can play off the ball. I don't have to touch the ball to impact the game. And that's the best way for me to better come back and impact this team is I can do other things on the floor

to be able to make sure we have a better chance to win. Well, it should be noted. You better be able to hit threes because that's what they do, and that's not Russell Wilson's strength. But I will say this, tip of the cap for self-awareness, tip of the cap for understanding it. The reality is, I'll believe it when I see it. They were one and two in usage rate last year, and Russell's never been a great shooter. He does a lot of things well, that's not what he does. But I'll give him this. He was very easy, breezy, wasn't up tight, seems to understand what he is. And as I've said before, this is Hardin's team, Hardens. town. And so if Russell is able to play off the ball, it'll work. And by the way, the first job of making something work is to acknowledge I have to change for it to work.

So you got to give Russell Westbrook that. Where Colin was right? Detroit Lion, oh, my bad. August 6, Hard Knock's debuts debuts with the Raiders. Now, I've said this before about John Gruden. He was a great coach,

then he was a TV star. I don't think he's a great coach yet. And I'm not sure if he'll ever be. He was out of the league 10 years. And I think Raiders want to sell tickets and Groon sells tickets. So they released a clip of Hard Knocks, which hasn't even aired yet. Oh, Lord, he is still a TV star. Everybody right now has dreams, don't they guys?

I said it to the rookies. All right, everybody in the NFL, I have a dream of making it in the NFL. I got a dream of winning a Super Bowl. I got a dream of being in a Pro Bowl. I'm really not into dreams anymore. Okay, I'm into nightmares. You guys with me on that? You got to end somebody's dream.

You got to take their job. You got to take their heart. Are you guys clear about this NFL now? We're not trying to go to the Peach Bowl. We're not trying to go to the Gator Bowl or the Blue Bonnet Bowl. We're trying to go to the Super Bowl. Okay? And to do that, you got to really try to end somebody's dream.

Are you clear on that, Farrell? Okay? I mean that now. So get into that. By the way, the Blue Bonnet Bowl last existence. it in 1987. That's a good year. Yeah.

That's what I worry about that John, some of this stuff, it just, it played 10, 12 years ago, much better than it plays now. I do think they have a chance to be a wildly entertaining mess as a fourth place team. Their talent's fun, but I'll say it again when you watch that clip. Is that a football coach or a star pretending to be a football coach? I'm not into dreams. I'm into nightmares. It's a wonderful slogan for a shirt.

That's great. Okay. Where Colin was wrong. Lions head coach, Matt Patricia, is a genius. I never knew that. But Mike Daniels got cut by the Packers. 13 teams called his agent. He said, I chose Matt Patricia because flat out, he's a genius.

Listen, the guy wears a pencil in his ear with a laminated play sheet. I don't understand that. He looks like an unmade bed. Couldn't figure out which way to have his hat in week one. But apparently he's a genius. New England, by the way, their defense was better when he left last year. here. It was the best New England defense in years. But, you know, I'll say this. Some of this sport, you got to occasionally land a free agent. Mike Daniel's a very good player, pro bowl or two

years ago. And if a player thinks the guy's brilliant, he's not the only player that thinks that. And so I've been kind of rough on Matt, Patricia, because I think when you're an NFL head coach, you have to kind of even look like a, you kind of kind of look like a head coach. You've got to get your act together a little bit, and he's not been that so far. But if players are saying he's a genius, Daniels is not the only guy that thinks that, so I'm wrong on that. Where Colin was right? Well, Cam Newton, I've been critical for years. Yes, he's talented.

Yes, he's handsome. Yes, he's an icon. Yes, he's wildly inconsistent and not an A quarterback is what I've been saying. And last week, NFL.com, 87th rated player out of 100. That's the NFL network voted on by players. By the way, also two weeks ago, called a tier three quarterback by NFL executives. Tier 3 meaning can't win big without tons of

help. Also, if you've watched the show all or nothing, it's more about fashion, music, and cam, and iconic stuff than actually football. Finally, everybody's admitting it. Yes, he's a talent, but you can't be an all-time great and not ever have back-to-back winning

seasons. His inconsistency is part of his personalities. Hard to depend on. Where Colin was wrong. I don't even know how it's possible, but Tom Brady led the NFL merchandise sales list this offseason. He's not lit. He wears kale pajamas.

He's more conservative than a Twitter fiend. He goes to bed early. I mean, he's fairly private considering he's the greatest quarterback of all time. How he leads the NFL in merchandise sales. How many of you don't have a Tom Brady jersey? I mean, New England hasn't changed their scheme on the uniforms. It's the same Tom Brady. Boston's not as big as New York or L.A. or Chicago.

You think there's other cities and other teams. Listen, I think Brady's the greatest quarterback of all time. And I'm not even sure if it's close anymore. But it's a stunner to me that he continues to lead Aaron Rogers, Russell Wilson, Baker, Mayfield, O'Dell Beckham. I thought young people buy jerseys. Brady's the oldest player in the league. I can't figure it out. Where Colin was right?

Sam Darnold and Adam Gase. Over the weekend have become a mutual admiration society. I said when the Jets signed Gace, he and Darnold were perfect. One guy's a hard ass, the other guy likes to be coached. Sure enough, Adam Gase over the weekend, quote, Donald can throw the blank out of the football. I love him. Donald's quote, here it is.

Well, first of all, it starts with my parents. They were always hard on me as a kid, and I think they were hard on me because they found out that's how I like to be coached. and that's kind of how I like to be treated. I think that's how I learn, you know, and for me, I think Gase kind of found that out quickly, you know, quicker than a lot of coaches do. So it was good that he found that out. So on the field, he's able to, you know, when he needs to be critical of me, he can be.

It's good, though. It's good all around because I respond well to it. And honestly, I think it's good for the whole team to see me, you know, being laid into a little bit sometimes. You know, I think that's good for everyone to see. And, you know, I think that's how I learned best. So they're already the mutual admiration society. By the way, 30 of 32 teams had Darnold above Baker on their NFL board.

Sam inherited an absolute offensive mess. Now at least he's got an offensive coach. He's got a superstar running back with Crowder. Jameson Crowder coming from Washington and elite slot receiver. They upgraded the offensive line. They are glue. And that's what we predicted they would be. Where Colin was wrong.

A 16-year-old won $3 million playing Fortnite this weekend at the first Fortnite World Cup. A 16-year-old, apparently watching people play video games is fascinating. $30 million was at stake overall. After 10 weeks of open qualifiers attracting more than 40 million competitors, the Fortnite World Cup finals, congratulations to a 16-year-old from a Pennsylvania, Kyle Buga-Giersdorf. That's a lot of lettuce for a 16-year-old.

Boy, I can barely parent my son now. I can't imagine if he came on with a $3 million check. Oh, wow. Where Colin was right. Team USA basketball is building its roster. And most of the good to great players have said will pass. It's a JV team now. And Carmelo Anthony is still not getting invited.

Why? Because players love Mello unless they have to play with him. He doesn't play defense. He lacks self-awareness. He's never been in great shape. he's a nice guy, but he's not a good basketball teammate. And all you mellow fanboys, for years and years said how mean I was, he cannot get an invite as a bench role player for Team USA basketball

in a year when all the good players are turning it down. Where Colin was right? Said before, never be another Tiger Woods. Golf pros, everybody with a four handicap has been telling me for a decade, Rory's going to be Tiger, and Brooks Kepkin just, and Rose and Jordan Spieth. This weekend, Brooks Kepka won the WGC Invitational in the same year as winning a major. He's the sixth guy ever to do that?

Tiger Woods did it eight times. That's the gap between Tiger and Brooks Kepka. Kepka is terrific. Seems like a good kid. Totally focused. Long off the T. Handles pressure well. But in the last 15 years, you've been telling me, maybe last 20,

here's the next tiger. So this now I'm told is the next tiger. And for the sixth time ever, he won the WGC and a major, and tigers done it eight times. That is the gap. Where Colin was wrong. A massive asteroid got within 45,000 miles of destroying Earth over the weekend. For years and years, I thought astronomers were smarter than sportscasters.

My bad. At least sportscasters. could spot with a telescope a flying cruise liner headed for Earth. The massive asteroid now named 2019 OK, as in, okay, we're all going to die. Okay, we're screwed here. Okay, here comes a flying luxury liner. Why didn't anybody spot it through their telescope? I was wrong.

I always thought astronomers were raised smarter than sportscasters. If we mess up a name, you crushed us. They missed a Carnival Cruise line on fire heading for bulls. Baltimore. I'm kind of grateful that they didn't tell us that this was going to happen. I mean, you've seen the movies when they tell everyone that the world's about to end, right? By the way, I shouldn't even mention Baltimore. We know what that city was involved with this weekend. So Cincinnati, that's a better place. Yeah, 45,000 miles. That asteroid came from ruining America. America.

The world? Yeah. I'm pretty sure the world was entirely going to be affected. Like London wouldn't have been affected. Yes. That's a little too close for my comfort. It missed us, though. It's incredible. It wasn't our time. How do you're an astronomer.

There's 8,000 astronomers. They have telescopes. You didn't see this fuzzy thing headed for? I mean, I kind of feel like that was a call from someone higher up. Like, they knew it was coming, but it was like, let's not send the entire world into a panic. Like, I'm busy every weekend. There's 20 games a night. Astronomers sit around, picking food out of their beards and watching asteroids.

How do they miss it? I'm telling you. I'm sure they knew it was heading our way. And they made an executive decision not to tell anyone, which I appreciate. So they tell us after it almost destroyed. Yes, because if they told us that there's an asteroid 20 minutes from hitting Earth, you know, they're going to send someone up in a spaceship and try and drill down and blow it up, Armageddon style.

Nobody has time for that. So I read the story. They said, they did say, by the way, that the astronomer spotted this, but it was too late to do anything. Right. So apparently there is a timeline that if we see a cruise liner, headed toward us, there is a timeline where we can throw like rocks at it or something.

I don't know what the... What is the contingency plan for that? Couldn't you bomb it and just... I mean, if you moved it four inches, it would fly off and hit another planet. No, we're not worried about the other planet. This is very eerily similar to the plot of Armageddon. Yes, it sounds a lot like Armageddon.

Send Matt Damon and Ben Affleck up there and we're fine. Look at that thing. I don't even like the images of it. I don't think Matt was in that cast. Who is it? Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis. Nicholas Cage, Bruce Willis? No, Nicholas Cage.

Willis. He saved the world in a different movie. Yes, he saved this from the 80s. Actually, in several movies. Yes. Really? All right. Was Jeremy Irons in any of those? It sounds like Jeremy Irons' movies, don't that?

Armageddon's a great movie. Cry every time. You cry? Every time. Well, Earth is going to get hit. It's worth crying over. It's very dramatic. All right, we got a bunch of stuff today.

Bucky Brooks, Marcellus Wiley, everybody around the corner. By the way, as much as I like Dak Prescott, this needs to be said coming up next. 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 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. They're lock, 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. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on 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, Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing.

And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people, with 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, 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 hard way and listen now.

What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? What? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. American Soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on the Army Stewart of the chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Boe. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer,

you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic. I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team.

And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogart and Tab Ramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcast. I like Deck Prescott, but there is, I will say this on the, I always think when athletes understand, like I always said Dwayne Wade, he gets drafted by Pat Riley and he lives in a state with no income tax.

And he lives in the flashiest, coolest East Coast City, which is Miami, right, international. So, Dwayne Wade, if it ever came down to it, and I was D. Wade or his age, and I'd say, listen, Pat Riley is going to get better players, no state tax, aqua water, and it's an international city. chance globally they'll make a little more money in Miami than an Indiana pacer. I do think there are opportunities sometimes, not very much, where a player in a certain market should be aware of the opportunities. Dak Prescott has to remember, the value of being a cowboy quarterback is the greatest of any position in American sports. Right now at Fox, Troy Aikman, CBS's lead analyst, Tony Romo.

I mean, if you look at the NFL network, Michael Irvin-Dion Sanders, Fox has Jimmy Johnson, If those guys coach or play quarterback, cornerback, or receiver for the Jaguars, they're not on those networks. Jason Whitten got the Monday Night Football gig without a huge personality. He was a tight end, and it lasted an hour. And I like Jason, but he doesn't get that if he plays for anybody. He doesn't get that as a Seahawk. He doesn't get that as a charger.

He doesn't get that as a anybody. He doesn't get that as a dolphin. He gets it because he's a cowboy. This is why actors, great actors, are willing to do the, those Marvel movies, it's not art. It's not visually. It's not intellectually stimulating. I mean, it's not, Don Cheedle is not looking at those Marvel scripts and having to dig deep for it. But you stay relevant. You stay in the conversation in Hollywood as the movie business goes through some tumult. You make residual money for the next 10 years. You do Marvel movies.

Okay, Don Cheeto's done big stuff. Mark Ruffalo, Downey, these are great actors. but you get yourself into a Marvel story because you're in the conversation. Dak Prescott plays for the Cowboys. He's getting Campbell Soup commercials. No state tax. He got those yogurt commercials. He got those when he was like a kid. He was a fourth round pick.

You think a fourth round pick for, you know, whoever, the Chargers is getting that? No. So that's where I would say with Dak, you know, if I could take a million or two less a year over time, you're going to get it back then some in the, Marvel movies and Cowboy Quarterback. By the way, I would say after the cowboy quarterback, you could say, what about the Yankees? The Yankees don't even let you put the name in the back of the jersey. They're not great for endorsements.

What about the Lakers? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could never get a coaching job. There's not Lakers broadcasting all over the country. I mean, the Cowboys, every network that has the NFL has a cowboy in the lead job last year. Now, Jason Witten's left, but it was Witten, Romo, Jimmy, Aikman, every single one, NFL, ABC, C, CBA, Fox. So that's where Dak has a fourth round pick, especially as a fourth round pick.

He wasn't a first rounder. Like, we didn't know who Dak was. I said when I watched him in college, I'm like he's a better version of Tebow. And I never thought Tebow was a franchise quarterback. All right, Joy with the News. No, no, no, no. Turn on the news.

This is the Herd Line News. So Jalen Ramsey showed up last week to Jacksonville Training Camp in a Brink's truck with a big introduction. And he's known for being a showman. and magazine covers and fashion and trash talk, and he sees no issue with this. He said, I'm serious about my craft. I'm serious about football, of course.

But at the same time, I'm going to have fun. I'm going to be an entertainer as well as a football player. This is the game I love. I want to bring as much attention to it as I can. Now, players like Jalen Ramsey and Antonio Brown and Leveon Bell and Odell get a lot of pushback, right? Now, there's this idea that there's like a traditional way that you're supposed to play sports.

and you're supposed to fall in line and not bring a lot of attention to yourself because it's a team game. But the reality is, is we live in a different time. And we compare the NBA and the NFL all the time. And sometimes it's really not fair when it comes to start them because there's way less players on the field. It's a very strict salary cap. There's a lot of different elements to the NFL that don't apply to the NBA and vice versa. But I will say, we live in a different era now. Social media has changed everything.

The Internet has changed everything. everything, how people consume, even the games has changed with Red Zone Channel and the package where you can watch a team from anywhere in the world and you don't have to sit there in front of your TV and turn it on and watch your team in your city. Like you have the availability to be a fan of any team in any city. So these guys like Jalen Ramsey and Antonio Brown that get all this negative feedback for being, for showing up at camp in an air balloon or showing up in a brink truck, like you're missing the bigger point of it.

He's absolutely right. It's an entertainment business. at the end of the day. And that's kind of where we get into a little bit of a struggle with the loyalty idea and all of that. Like, ratings are very important. Stars are very important. If you're a great player, I don't really care about as long as you're not disruptive to the on-field

product, I don't really give a rip. And if you're, you know, would Antonio Brown at the end of the year, I felt hurt the football team. But Ju-Ju-Jew Smith-Schuster, by the way, is always doing something with social media. But he shows up and makes seven catches. And the Ramsey thing won't play well to some stats. But he's a great corner. Now, I don't think I'd pay him in Jacksonville because I can't pay two corners,

but he's going to get picked up. I mean, there's a lot of teams in this league. I mean, you know, I'll give you a, there's two or three. Like, I'll give you a team, the Jets. I like them, but they don't have good enough corners to win a playoff game. If they would not have paid Labian Bell, I'd be like, go get Jalen Ramsey. He's got a spot in the league to make a lot of money. And I also don't like the idea that you just can't pay anybody

and you have to do everything the way the Patriots do it. You're not the Patriots. The only people who do things the way the Patriots do it are the Patriots. You have to have a lot of moving parts that fit to be the Patriots. So there's a lot of buzz around. There was a lot of buzz around Kyla Murray being the number one overall pick, but it's kind of died down a little bit. We're not watching as closely.

And he actually happens to be the 20th quarterback that Larry Fitzgerald has played with in his 16-year career. Right? What? Yes. And he is leading the hype train for Kyla Murray. All right. Let's listen to this. Larry Fitzgerald.

I've never seen a quarterback coming in so quickly and be able to command an offense. I mean, from day one, he's out there checking the different plays, sliding the line, different protections, getting us in the screens where Blitz is coming. I mean, so his understanding of the offense is crazy, I mean, from day one. And I think that's going to give us a great advantage. You know, it'll play fast from the first preseason game all the way to the start of the regular season. And giving him the keys to the car and letting him go is great for us. So I praise he's played with a lot of quarterbacks.

I have to watch him play. I really have no strong opinion. I have concerns about size, but I don't, you know what? Fans want us to have an opinion before you watch anything. It's like fights. The Manny Packke out, Keith Thurman fight. I like Thurman. But you could tell by the second round, you're like,

oh, God, man, he's a nightmare speedwise for Thurman, who's a plotter. And Thurman went into that fight, not even worrying about his feet. And I'm like, the feet are going to decide the fight. So sometimes you have to watch stuff happening. And you're like, oh, that match up? Yeah, and he has a new head coach, too. There's so many unknowns. with this situation.

And I think that's kind of why there isn't, I mean, he's a number one overall pick that doesn't have the crazy buzz and attention that normally a number one overall pick, a quarterback position would have because we just don't know. We have no idea what to expect from this. And we didn't see that much from him in college either

as a starter. He hadn't started that many games. So everyone's kind of in an unknown space with him. So Westbrook was introduced in Houston on Friday, and he was very calm, cool, and collected. And he also made a claim that some people are pushing back on. me and jane's been friends for many many years since i was 10 actually uh we we play with each other for for many years in oklahoma city and so to be able to win something you got a better sacrifice some parts of your game and we both understand that we both understand that we both

understand that we have one common goal and that's the winning championship so we understand what we have to do um i'm not worried about i know james is not worried about it um i can play off the ball um i have to touch the ball to impact the game and that's the best way um for me to be able to come back and impact this team as I can do other things on the floor to be able to make sure we have a better chance of winning. Hit threes, that's all I want to see. But that's not his game, though.

So that's actually not what I want to see. I don't want to see Westbrook take a bunch of threes. And that's what's interesting about Houston because that's kind of their mantra, right? That's their system. And sometimes you've got to break that to fit certain players into what you do. You have an all-time great in Russell Westbrook

and all-time great in James Harden. We obviously know they both have. of high usage rates. James Harden is a much better shooter than Westbrook and a much better catch and shoot shooter than Westbrook. It's about 10% higher than him in a free field goals and three point shooting. But that's not his game. Like Westbrook is an aggressive player and he does have great shooters around him.

So he is going to be able to drive and kick it out. And he is a great passer. You don't average a triple double without being able to get assists. And of course, rebounds. And this is also going to be an opportunity to show that he's actually a really good rebounder. Okay. So we were told Westbrook. was going to be something for years and he wasn't.

And then he got Paul George and everybody told me, is this going to work? And it didn't because Paul George won it out of it. So all I'm saying is I've seen it not work twice. Now, it may work in the third installation. It may. But I'm going to be a cynic of this until the All-Star break. Again, we were just talking about what you need to see things.

I'm on the more positive side of this. Now, I could be a little bit sway because I do really want to see Westbrook win a championship. But I feel really good about this. I feel like the NBA is very even. Obviously the clippers, to me, have the edge at this point right now. How come Westbrook's so happy? Have you ever noticed that how happy is in August? He's an intense guy.

He's an intense competitor. He's not competing with anybody right now. He's so happy in August. Every video is like, ah, balloons, rainbows. Season gets up. I also think this is kind of, this is a new start for him. It is. Sometimes that's just, that's what you need.

I was old and grumpy. Fox Collin is fun. I know you weren't sneakers today. I know. And not only sneakers, but my wife says they're cool. They are cool. She did a good job. All right.

There you go. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The herd lie news. By the way, interesting. Training Camp Buzz. Belichick this year, story came out yesterday.

There's going to be more involved with the Patriots defense, which isn't a terrible thing. He lost Matt Patricia to the Lions. Brian Flores now coaches the dolphins. Chad O'Shea, Flores took him down to Miami. This is an interesting thing. And I'm, you know, listen. the Patriots are fine. But I've been saying this for years is the thing that killed Pete Carroll's USC dynasty,

Urban Myers, Florida dynasty, Bobby Bowden's Florida State Dynasty, and Mack Brown's dynasty at Texas wasn't that the coaches got bad. They lost great assistance. In the college football world, last year, Alabama for the first year had a bad staff. Nick Sabins had so many good assistants leave. He's not perfect. He got a couple of assistants that were very, very average, and they got out coached against Clemson. They weren't even competitive.

So it'll be very interesting. Now, New England still has Dante Scarnacia, Tom Brady, 171, 1's 41. But it is interesting when you look, this is the untold story of football. What ends college dynasties is you just keep losing great assistance. And a coach after a while, he whiffs on a hire. And you end it with a bad assistant. Bobby Bowden did, Pete Carroll did, Mac Brown did, Urban Meyer did, Nick Sabin did last year.

And in the NFL, they don't have real dynasties. and I don't proclaim to think this will end the dynasty. But you can, a staff wins you games. And in the NFL, it's inches not feet. 11 wins get you a home field by. 10 wins get you a wild card. So it'll be interesting to see now that Belichick now has to go back to actually coordinating and coaching a lot because they've lost.

Listen, when you're the best, people cherry pick your staff. Coming up next, there are five or six topics as we head into the college and pro football season. I'm going to give you a heads up. I don't want to talk about them. I just, if they come, I'm just going to let them go and let the rest of the American sports media talk about them. That's coming up 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 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 moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice 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 rapidly. 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, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about All healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys?

This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. 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, 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 with 42.

Hey, Wreck, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to... to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I gotta manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's gonna be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the

lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here we go. We got a football season. And so camps are open. I mean, I don't think we have another weekend until February 2nd without some level of football game, college or pro. Labor Day, that's about the time college football ramps up. Following weekend, like the 10th in that neighborhood, 10th, 11th, that's when the NFL starts.

And so you get into these topics. And I was saying this morning, there's five or six topics that I'm just done with before the season starts. Like, I'm not going to partake in them. They're hacky. I've heard them a million times. You're literally running out of things. to say. So I'm just going to give you a heads up. On the half dozen topics, I don't want to talk about this year.

And when I see the headline, staff included, don't even show it to me. Here's number one. The Patriots dynasty is over. Maybe, but you don't know because you've been telling me that for four years. Do they have the best coach? Yep. Will they be better than last year? I think so.

They'll be younger and more athletic. Is Tom Brady the best big game quarterback in the league? Certainly looks like it. If not, he's real close. Do they have the weakest division? Yep. Do they have three second year quarterbacks in their division? Yep.

Will they probably get a buy and win at least 10 games? Yep. That means they have to win a couple of home games when they're in the Super Bowl. And even if they don't win the Super Bowl, and that's their standard now, the dynasty's not over if they get to the AFC championship. Even if they lost to the Chiefs or Colts or Steelers or Browns or whoever, if they get to the conference championship, that's still the dynasty. I don't want to hear about if it's over.

I don't know. You don't know. I'll believe it when I see it. Number two. Dak isn't a franchise quarterback. No, he is. Now, he's not as high end, in my opinion, as a Matt Ryan, a Russell Wilson. I don't think he's as talented as a Deshawn Watson.

I don't think he's as a Baker Mayfield. I don't think he's Sam Darnold even. But he's a franchise quarterback. He's got the second most wins in the league since 2016. And that's with Jason Garrett, who many of you consider kind of an average coach. Number one is, by the way, Tom Brady. He's a franchise quarterback. He's a grown-up.

He doesn't get hurt. He's terrific in crisis. Regularly doesn't get beat by the same defense or team twice. He tends to play big in TV games. He gets to the playoffs. He's won a playoff game. Listen, not every company is Facebook and Apple. You can still be a company.

You can still go public. He's a franchise quarterback. The only question now is, 28 million or 32, probably somewhere in between. To money question now, it's not whether or not he's a franchise quarterback. He's better than 10 guys off the top of my head. The number three topic, Nick Foles is better than Carson Wence. Stop talking. He's not.

Nick Foles almost retired a couple years ago. But Nick Foles in a Philadelphia operation that Carson Wentz drove into the playoffs, Nick Foles took over and in the NFC with a bunch of home games they won. If you go the last two years at the games Carson Wentz and Nick Foles has played. And this is with everybody saying that Nick Foles is amazing. And Carson Wentz is Nick throws for 100 yards less a game, one yard less an attempt, has one fifth of the touchdowns and a much lower passer rating. And you're telling me Foles is better.

No, Carson's just been hurt more. and that is a concern. But don't tell me who's better. Carson Wentz is bigger, stronger, more mobile, faster. Now, he maybe has more ego, you read story. A little tougher to coach. But Nick Foles is now going to Jacksonville. Don't be shocked if they finish fourth in their division.

Here's another topic I'm done with. Blank player is an early Heisman favorite. Who cares? I mean, we all know it's going to be quarterbacks at the top five schools in the country. This is not a legitimate, This is why I don't talk about Heismans. It's not a legitimate award.

They don't pick a defensive player. Unless you're at a high-profile program, you have no shot. You have no shot unless you play for a top-10 program. And you mostly have to play running back or quarterback. It's down to the 22 starters, it's two positions. And Heisman guys have never been great NFL guys. Like you're running out of topics as a college football reporter. If you're into the early Heisman stuff by early October, get another topic.

Here's another college topic. I'm done with. It's time to expand the college football playoff. Why? You think somebody besides Clemson and Alabama are going to get there? If we had a system that didn't get Alabama and Clemson into the final four, I would all be for changing it. In my lifetime, there has never been one time in my lifetime that the seventh best

team in college football by the end of the year was getting hosed. That team usually has a loss and often two losses. By the end of the college football season, You got about three teams that you're thinking, yeah, and those are the three best. And occasionally a team years ago, Auburn before the playoff was undefeated, didn't get a play for it. You tell me who the number eight team in the country was last year, who number seven team in the country at the end of the year. They've already lost two games, minimum, and would probably lose more if they played in the SEC. Here's what I know.

Alabama Clemson, as long as our system currently includes those two, we don't need to expand it. By the way, the presidents, this is not even available to vote on until like 2025, 2026. So we're over a half decade away from even voting on this thing. And I've said before, I'm not so sure. The old BCS thing, I didn't have a lot of complaints with that. But don't turn college football into college basketball.

It'll make the regular season irrelevant. It's still a great sport. Sometimes it feels like it's clinging to it with all the bad. schedules, but stop with a college football playoff. It's not happening. And finally, Colin Coward hates the Browns because they won't win the division. Folks, they haven't won the division since the 80s. You're not hating on the Cleveland Browns by suggesting that Pittsburgh that's got a better ownership group, a better GM, a better coach, a better quarterback, a better offensive line.

The five things that win divisions, you don't hate anybody. Cleveland is the youngest roster in the NFL fact, has a rookie head coach fact, Baker Mayfield struggled against the playoff teams he faced last year, fact. The Pittsburgh Steelers are better up front offensively, better coach, quarterback, better GM, better owner, and also the Pittsburgh Steelers have lived in the hype expectation tunnel since my childhood. The Browns now with the youngest roster and a rookie head coach have massive. massive hype and expectations, they may handle it brilliantly or they may not.

Hype could change the clippers. The Lakers live with high standards. The clippers don't. Let's see how they react to it before we call everybody who suggests the Steelers could win the division. Nobody hates on Cleveland. They'll be fun to watch. They're going to score a bunch of points. I just don't think Baker's a Hall of Famer yet.

I don't think OBJ's production equals W's. and I have no idea if Freddie Kitchens can coach. I think he probably can. It wasn't that long ago. It feels like I watched him pay quarterback for Alabama. I think he can coach, but he'd never been a head coach. Until last year, he'd never been a coordinator. So let's just wait and see.

So those are my half dozen. I'm just done with them now. I'm just done. The other one in basketball, Zion Williamson can't shoot. Could we give him a year in the league? Could we give Zion Williamson? It feels a little dramatic. I know.

It's like, it's, it's, our job is essentially to be, like, I always think I'm a judge. So I come in, fans are the media. The media is the jury where you, you, the jury in a courtroom is the media. You hope they're objective. They aren't always objective, but you hope the jury's objective and you hope the media's objective. And then, like for a political, for a court case, you know, you take the OJ case, the fans become the media. There's a lot of histrionics, a lot of theater, a lot of yelling, a lot of screaming, a lot of nonsense. My job is to be the judge.

I look at a case. I look at a team. I look at history. I look at the resumes. I look at the charges. I look at the DA. I look at the defense attorney. And I go, all right, this is my decision based on the evidence I have.

I'm going to give you an unemotional decision. Pittsburgh should be favored to win that division. Older roster, better coach, better quarterback, better online, been there before. and nobody's paying attention to them. But the Browns are new. And shiny a toy. It's fun. It's crazy.

You know, they're the asteroid heading for the world. Like we're all, woo, wow. Was that our reaction to that? I mean, it's just like everybody's freaking out. It's like Cleveland's Cleveland. They don't win. They're talented, but their young, new coach, Baker's a kid. They got an offensive line that's top, bottom, six in the league.

They should have high expectations based up the talent that they have. They have more talent than they've ever had. By the way, Brown's head coach, Freddie Kitchens talking about Baker Mayfield crushing people this weekend at practice. He said, I expect my quarterback to get everybody on the same page. That's what I want. For the record, I'm really okay with Baker Yelling at people. This weekend, he yelled at some people.

Police video, pass. Throwing the ball over people. Opponents pre-game pass. Jamming a flag into the midfield of Ohio State. Pass. Grabbing your junk, pass. Twitter wards with sportscasters. pass yelling at teammates, I'm all in on that. That's the part about Baker I like. I'm totally supportive

of Baker Mayfield and that stuff. This is the youngest roster in the NFL. Guess what? He's going to have to yell. That's okay. The other thing is when you have a losing history, it does take strong personalities. This was like Kurt Schilling and Manny Ramirez with the Red Sox. It takes a lot to break that culture. Kurt Warner with the Arizona Cardinals. When you're trying to break a losing culture, it takes kind of a kick-arse guy. Like, Kurt Schilling was like, I don't want to hear about the Yankees. We're better. And Kurt Warner went to Arizona.

I did it a different way that Schillings like, no, we're getting to the Super Bowl. You kind of need a losing culture, needs a butt kicker to kind of break through that wall, that wall of losing and that culture, that negativity. Baker could very well be that guy. He'll have to yell a lot this year. This is a young roster with a bunch of 23-year-old kids. Hour three, Bucky Brooks, Marcellus Wiley, coming up. One more herd?

The herd streams 20. 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the I-Hard Radio app. Search Hurd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. To sleep cool and comfortable this summer, casper.com code heard. Use the code. Special offer. H-E-R-D. Bucky Brooks

played in the NFL. Scout. Now he writes articles. NFL network analysts, one of my favorite guests. So when you write the article that's critical of Aaron Rogers, I laugh about it because we both think Aaron's great. But I always feel like I know Aaron doesn't like me.

Aaron's a top five quarterback in the league. I do think Patrick Mahomes is the next Aaron, where the golden arm, oh my God, he's doing stuff nobody can. And he hasn't had the injuries of Aaron. He doesn't have some of the wealth. You know, once you get wealthy, it kind of changes how you see the world. You don't want to be coached often quite as much. But your article basically said about Aaron, I think it was very fair,

which is, listen, last 50 games, he hasn't been as good. You can blame McCarthy, but he has become a three-point shooter, more than the gimmey layup. Do you get pushback when you write articles like that? Oh, man, for sure. I got a lot of it. And I got a lot of it, and I don't think people necessarily read. Like, I can acknowledge that Aaron Rogers is one of the best quarterbacks

that we've ever seen in NFL history. Totally agree. And I can say that at one point, he was the gold standard for the position. Yeah. However, when you're evaluating people, when you're evaluating players, even as a gentleman, you have to take emotion out of it. So take the emotion out of it. And let's look at what he's really done.

If you go back those last 50 games that you talked about, the 24, 24 and 1, He's completing 62% of his passes. His passer rating is below 100. And he's coming off a season that was maybe one of the worst that he's had as a starter. And so if all those things are going against you, how can you say, hey, he's the number one guy in the league when this is the golden era of quarterback play? We saw Pat Mahomes go 5,050. We've seen Philip Rivers continue to kill it. We've seen Drew Brie set another NFL mark for completion.

percentage. At some point, you have to evaluate players for what they are at this moment. And at this moment, he didn't play like a top five got last year. Now, now, here's where I've defended him. They have not given him much defense to work with, so I'm not holding him to a Super Bowl standard. He hasn't had Tom Brady's defenses. He hasn't had Russell Wilson's defenses. And I do consider that, but I will say this, offensive lines, his are always above average. They have drafted and developed receivers, O lineman, tight ends, excellently. So I'm not going to hold him to Tom's Super Bowl standards.

What I will, and these are your top five quarterbacks. Right now in the league, give me your five. Look, so when you think about it is Pat Mahomes, you have Philip Rivers, you have Drew Brees, you have Tom Brady, and then look, we threw in Russell Wilson at five. Because Russell Wilson the last two years has played magical, even though they're operating under a run first premise. when you're evaluating the position, like everyone is subjective.

Do you want to put passing yards? Do you want to do quarterback wins? Whatever it is. I think it is a feel thing. Do I feel like this quarterback is elevating the cast of characters around him? And it's never perfect because the reason quarterbacks are getting $30 million, they're supposed to be the Fabrice. They're supposed to erase all of the things that stink in the franchise.

The franchise quarterback is supposed to erase that. We've seen Tom Brady do that. We have seen Drew Breeze elevate guys who weren't necessarily A plus playmakers and make them play at a high level. We've seen Philip Rivers do that. We saw Russell Wilson play behind a bad offensive line. And leave the NFL touchdowns. Right. And play at an MVP level.

So if we're saying that is the standard, then we should expect more from Aaron Rogers based on what he has been and what he's compensated to be at a higher level. Now, Matt LaFleur comes in. He's a younger, little hipper, a little cooler, a little progressive. I would say generationally, he and Aaron are about the same age. What do you forecast for that? So the thing that Matt LaFleur has to do early, he has to establish a respect factor from Aaron Rogers. Because he doesn't come in as a decorated coach,

like as an office coordinator or whatever, the thing that Aaron and any veteran player wants to look to is, can you make me a better player? How are you going to make me a better player? How are you going to elevate this unit? So Matt LaFleur early has to establish, here's what you can do to be a better player. I got a plan that is going to elevate your game.

Here's the plan for us to get everyone around you to play at a better level. And if he's able to do that and if early in camp and preseason and the regular season, those things work, then they'll be bonded. But if they don't, if he doesn't have the ability to have answers, that's when the rub could come from Aaron Rogers and Matt LaFleur because if he's looking to Matt LaFleur for answers and he can't deliver them. That's the issue. Tom Brady always knows.

I can go to Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick can give me an answer, and it's going to be the right answer more times than not. That's what Matt LaFleur has to establish with his quarterback. I say Aaron Rogers reminds me a little of Big Ben. As they've aged, they've gotten a little stubborn, a little banged up, not quite as precise as I think they can be, and leadership depends on the Sunday.

And that's not a bang on Big Ben. I mean, people, look, all quarterbacks are not. built the same. They have a different way. It doesn't mean that Aaron Rogers can lead and can win that way. He can win in that direction. However, there has to be a trust in a level of communication between him and the head coach. He also has to have a trust in a level of communication with the rest of the team. Can he get on the same page with the young guys? Can he nudge and encourage them and get them to play at a higher level? Can he pump some confidence and some belief into them so they can play the way that he needs them to play so he can

elevate his game. It doesn't mean that he can't be critical. He can't demand or do those things to try and elevate their play. But he has to have some dialogue. They have to have that consistent conversation. We've seen it. We've seen Tom Brady. We've seen others. And Aaron Rogers has done that because we've seen a number of former Packers talk about that. But it has to be consistent. And now more than ever, because Mike McCarthy is gone. Ted Thompson, who they talked about, maybe they didn't put the best team around him. Gone. He's gone. So now it is Aaron Rogers. It is all on him because all the excuses are removed, we now will get a chance to judge

number 12 on what he does. If I'm Stephen Jones, son of Jerry Jones and your Dak Prescott's agent, is this a fair conversation? Listen. Or the Cowboys. No state tax. I get you Campbell's Soup commercials. This is the greatest position in American sports.

You'll get TV after this if you want. Aikman, Romo, Michael, Dion. Jason Whitten wasn't a big personality. He was a tight end. We got him on my money and I football. Is it a fair place for me to start as a general manager saying, we love you. But there is a value to being our quarterback over the Bengals quarterback. Is that fair or out of bounds? It's fair to a point. The issue that you have, those points are valid and they're great. But when Dak Prescott looks out and he sees Carson Wentz. And Carson Wentz comes in at 31 and a half.

And on paper, resume, you can say Dak Prescott has exceeded what Carson Wentz has done. You talk about second most wins since he entered the league behind Tom Brady. We judge quarterbacks on the ability to get the team to the winner's circle. He's been able to do that. Now, does he have to get everything? No, but to think that he should take a discount, I think is unfair because what he has done, he's given the Cowboys a lot of bang for their buck for three years. The average quarterback was making 20, 22 million.

Dag was making less than a million dollars. So for a couple of years, they had an 18. million dollar threshold that they could earmark money other places. They have to pay them. They have to pay them at a top market value. And I think they will. I think it's just trying to sort out where did the pieces of the puzzle fit. Because look, when you're there and I was there at Cowboys Camp this weekend, he is clearly the leader. He is the right guy. He checks off all the boxes. You're at the Cowboy camp. Yes, I was at Cowboys Camp this weekend. He checks off all the boxes from an intangible standpoint. He is everything. And so they need to pay him, but they all

have a talented team. And he should be able to look around and say, if I win games, I'm going to get elevated. And so it's about finding the right price point where he's satisfied monetarily while also having enough to pay everybody else. Years ago, I went to Home Depot in the winter. And I bought a grill for like $190. It lasted 15 years. And if that grill could have negotiated with me 15 years later, it could have taken me

because I got. So similarly, that almost never happens in retail. When you buy something for nothing, it lasts forever. Everything breaks, right? Dak is, you know, you don't get Russell Wilson much. Third round, Hall of Famer. Now, Dak's not a Hall of Famer, but when you get a fourth rounder, and I get him for free for four years,

it's hard to ask that young man. You made less than DJs in your city. Listen, if Dak came to me and asked for the world, it would almost ethically, and I know owners aren't known as, they don't care about that. But, I mean, just I would struggle to look another man in the face, knowing I paid $190 for a grill at Home Depot and I used it 15 years.

DAC has been the most, he has been the cheapest great quality item in the world. In our world of sports, Dax the only star that's made nothing. Yes, absolutely. And it's very similar to what the Seattle Seahawks were able to benefit from Russell Wilson. They get a guy that the reality of it, when you draft someone in the third round and the fourth round, those guys are viewed as developmental players. you don't have expectations that they're going to be high-end starters play at a high level. Russell Wilson played to that level.

Dak Prescott has been a solid starter. Whether you want to put him at the top 15 in the middle of the pack, fine. But the numbers say that when he plays, they win. They go to the playoffs. They win the overwhelming majority of their games, you have to compensate him for that. And when you look at other guys like Jim McArapolo and Kurt Cousins, he should get paid. By the way, I know Dak is not a grill, but it was an interesting analogy I thought. I never forget.

The only time in retail I ever felt I got a deal on something. So, you know, we were talking about the NFL network comes out, and they do these rankings on stuff, and Deshawn's under Baker. And we've always had this in my life. There was a quarterback years ago named Jim Hart, who I always thought was wildly underrated. But he played in the middle of the country. He wasn't a Packer.

He wasn't a cowboy. He was in St. Louis. Nobody paid attention to him. And Jim Hart, then I think he was replaced later by Neil Lomax. They were both great quarterbacks. I saw Neil this weekend. And it just didn't get a lot of love. Kenny Anderson in Cincinnati.

He just didn't get any love because he played in Cincinnati. He wasn't a steeler. He wasn't a cowboy. Deshawn Watson's lower than Baker-Mayfield on some NFL network list. Timeout. I don't think we understand that Deshawn Watson has played behind an atrocious offensive line. And if you start looking at his numbers, he's really an impressive player. Very impressive player.

You talk about the offensive line. How about we talk about the coach? We use the same things that we've used in the past for Aaron Rogers. We could throw that out there. Does Bill O'Brien really elevate quarterbacks? Did Bill O'Brien do his best coaching job? The second season that Deshaun Watson was the quarterback. The first season, they did some things that Deshawn did at Clemson,

made him look successful. He elevated, played at a high level. Last year, did they do those same things? Is Bill O'Brien an elite play caller? So when you're looking at Deshaun Watson, are we judging him fairly? When it comes to the Deshawn Watson-Baker-Mayfield comparison, I can understand the Baker Mayfield bounce. The Cleveland Browns had low expectations.

He comes in and surpasses him. They play at a higher level. They play 7 and 9. They're very competitive. They're fun to watch. So it's easy to get swept up in it. The litmus test for both guys. Baker Mayfield, second time around as a sophomore,

how does he duplicate or build upon that success? Has a talented support and catch you would expect him to be able to do so. Deshawn Watson, what is the next step? We saw him in the playoffs. It looked a little fast for him. can he go to the next level? Look, he is a guy to me that is still very, very underrated. I think he's a fantastic player.

I think he's one of those guys that's going to be a top-10 quarterback very soon. Now it's the matter of Ken Bill O'Brien put him in the right situation to allow him to use all of the talents that he shows. Good to see you, bud. Thanks for having me. Read his article, Bucky Brooks. Joy Taylor with the news. No, no, no, no.

Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. All right, so we were just discussing this. This doc is in the final year. of his rookie contract. He's scheduled to make a little more than $2 million in base salary. He'll be the 38th highest paid quarterback in the league this season. That's funny, actually.

Despite going 32 and 16 as a starter in his three seasons as Cowboys quarterback, and this is Dak on his contract. I'm not here to talk about my contracts, that stuff. I mean, talks, I'm sure at this point, it continuously happened. But for me, it's about to come out here and focus on this. Not be distracted by any of that stuff or any of that conversation. Just focus on getting better, being the best player that I can be and make sure everybody around me is as well.

I'll happen when it happens. I know I'll be better by the time the regular season starts. So, as I said, it's my focus. The only thing I don't like about him is a hat on backwards. Everything else, I love the guy. It's good when you're talking to the media. You want to see your face. I know you're very against the hat on backwards thing.

Look, a couple of linemen have the hat on backwards there in the video. Yeah, just dopey linemen. Well, here's the thing about Dak. And I've always been on the side that you need to pay, and pay him what he's worth. And really, if you look at what you just said with the grill analogy, that grill could have negotiated more money out of you, right?

You got years and years. Initially, you paid an upfront fee for the grill. You purchased the grill. Right. And then eventually, you realize how much value this grill has. Maybe you would have paid a whole lot more for it. Well, Dak has been playing for a fourth round rookie contracts for you for multiple years.

So think about it that way. Think about the amount of money that he's actually. worth and spread it out over those years. Does that make you feel better about paying Dak? If you look at it mentally that way, does that soothe you a bit? Calm down. You have to pay Dak Prescott. I don't know, I really don't know what sports fans want. If a guy talks too much and he talks trash and he's flashy, we don't like that. If he's like Dak and he's humble and he does the right thing and he says the right thing but he's not on that level, we don't like that. What do guys have to do to earn a contract? By the way, for a radio

audience. In the other video we're showing Dak, he's wearing his hat on Forward. Yes, this is a very important thing. For me, it's very important. I don't agree with you on the hat thing, but I do think that you have to pay Dak. And don't hit me with the he's not as talented thing either, because that sounds nice

and it sounds very smart and sports savvy. It doesn't have the same talent as the other guys. Well, he wins. Yeah, he wins a lot. A lot, yes. He does a lot. It's about 11 games a year. And he's available. And he doesn't get in trouble. Great. And by the way, he is, Jerry Jones tells that story about him turning down a commercial the first year. Listen, I know I say this ad nauseum. Self-awareness is like the most underrated part of actual.

It's so, so valuable. And he's got complete self-awareness of, wow, I'm 22, fourth-rounder. I probably shouldn't be doing a commercial with an owner when I'm not even proven yet. That is so rare for, I wouldn't have been able to do it. almost an unbelievable story. Yes. You know what it is? It's people being greedy is what it is. When you're asking for too much, appreciate what it is you have. Speaking of that, Steelers minority owners did not want Tomlin to get an extension. A few of them did not want him to get an extension. He was given a one-year extension through 2021 last week with a team option for 2022. And in 2018, some minority owners of the Steelers

wanted Art Rooney to fire Mike Tomlin. Now, look, I do think that in certain situations, it just becomes too much of the same thing. Like it's just time to move on. You need a fresh start. Look at Russell Westbrook. It mostly looked like a good situation from the outside, but it obviously wasn't working. Andy Reid in Philadelphia, he'd won a bunch of games.

It was just kind of time. Yes, exactly. Sometimes it's just time to move on. I don't feel like that's the case with Mike Tomlin. I think everyone is vastly overreacting to what the Steelers are going to be this year. I do think it's going to be interesting to see how they are, being that they lost Levion Bell and Antonio Brown. which are huge talents, but also weren't necessarily fitting with what the Steelers were trying to do, obviously.

Now, it was Levyon's choice, obviously, but at the end of the day, Mike Tomlin is a great coach. He's a Super Bowl winning coach. He's never had a losing season. I would die. You know what? If you listed everybody in the NFL I could put on my couch, I think Tomlin is top three. Brady would be one. Belichick probably two. No. Tomlin's a better. No, I'm talking football. Football only. If you gave me anybody in the couch, Brady's one. Belichick probably wouldn't be a great interview.

No. Tomlin is incredible television. Incredible. So who was three? Baker again. Baker again. Well, you've had Baker on. Okay, Odell. Yeah, he doesn't like me now, but he would be good to fire back at me. That would be a great interview.

All right. So finally, the clippers have had their name since they moved from Buffalo in 1978. They were also in the San Diego Clippers from 78 to 84. and they plan to open a new arena in Englewood in 2024. The arena looks amazing. But that venue change might not be the only thing that they might be changing. According to Steve Balmer, he said, we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to really step up our identity up to another level.

I don't anticipate making a change, but we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that is the kind of thing you somehow do in consultation with your fans. So he's thinking about changing the name. of the clippers. Whoa. Yeah. Whoa.

He, what? This is what he saying. Okay. Now he hasn't said they're going to do it. I'm sure they're going to sell naming rights for the venue because everyone does that. What would Marcellus Wiley do with that? He'd have to root for a new team. They're not going to be called the Clippers.

Well, the Clippers name came from a clipper ship. Yeah, the Clippers ships in San Diego. So it doesn't necessarily make sense. But it is. Well, we talk about this a lot, though. There are some teams out there with names. don't really, like the Utah Jazz. Well, they.

It's like, is that really fit? But it's a, it's a brand now. So I don't know how Clippers fans would feel about this. I don't know how Clipper Daryl feels about this idea. What would you call? We got angels, Dodgers, Lakers, Trojans, Bruins, Galaxy. I don't, it's not so much about the name. It's just like it becomes part of the brands.

You know what I mean? Like, it's not. I've ever thought about, like, if they were going to change it. what did they change the Clippers to? I just thought of this. It's the most revolutionary idea I've ever had. Steve Balmer is a visionary. Okay.

They don't have a name. They are simply called the L.A. Clippers. They're like... They're called Los Angeles. They're called Los Angeles. Goulet, why are you looking at me like that? They're like Prince? You know why.

They're going to change their name to a symbol. Yeah, they changed their name to a symbol. That worked for Prince because he's the greatest artist of all time. Well, this is... They have the best two-way players. They have never made it. Western Conference finals. Alex is laughing.

You change the game. They call them Team Los Angeles. And they have a symbol. And the symbol's a big question, Mark. Well, they may change their logo, too. So they're having talks about changing their logo, which teams change logos all the time. I don't have a problem with that.

But I am not on board with your idea. Okay. But I don't know. I don't know how I feel what the clippers changed in a name, to be honest. I love that symbol idea. Just you have a symbol. I mean, it didn't really work because we just referred to Prince as the artist formerly known as Prince. So we'd probably just call the Clippers the team formerly known as the Clippers.

With a weird symbol. The Los Angeles team formerly known as the Clippers. That was a terrible idea. I'm glad we talked that through. That was. I'm going to go to break. I'm going to go to break. Joy with the news.

Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. That could have been 23 years. of doing this. My worst idea on the air. Marcelus Wiley, he may stop by. He's laughing at us. That's coming up. It's the herd. Be sure to catch

live editions of the herd weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeard Radio app. 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 answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice 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 rapidly. 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

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Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. 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, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Brett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defying the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the

playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reed. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stopped by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass, but get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball. Like, you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick.

Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Marcellus Wiley is one of the cool people who like the clippers over the Lakers and Chargers over the Rams, and he's joining us. And he has had to endure Whitlock. Just kidding, Jason. So, by the way, let's start with my horrible Clippers idea. They're moving arenas, and they're considering changing their name. Would that bother you as a diehard day one Clipper fan?

It wouldn't bother me. It's unnecessary. I think that when they talk about uniform changes, when they talk about name changes, symbols, it's all defined by your success. I think the Lakers' colors are ugly, hideous. Purple and gold is just hideous to me. But when you see it on a Lakers jersey and you start thinking about the history and their success, it works. You know, but you never walk out the house saying, you know what, these purple jeans go good with this gold sweater.

Like, it doesn't. So I don't want to get lost in this world of, oh, God, we're going to redefine ourselves by what you call us. No, it's based on our performance. Let's go get it. Yeah. You know, the Clippers are a funny story because living in the hype bubble, Pittsburgh's living in it forever, Cleveland now will be in it. the clippers have never been in it now there's expectations is there a chance it doesn't work paul george's shoulder surgery is off kawai wants 22 games it blows up chemistry doc can't kind of

re-engineer the what do they call it the blacktop team where we play in the driveway we're good yeah is there any fear for you that it may the expectations are out of line with reality uh no no fear at all i mean it can't be worse than it's been before uh let's go before lob city i know a lot of People are new to the Clippers' love and all of this attention. But the sports arena days and then moving to Staples Center when this team couldn't put a good product on the court, that was the low point for this franchise. Right now, things are going up. Will they finally get the championship?

That's our aspiration. But if it doesn't happen, we don't blow this thing up. We just keep rolling. You are an NFL player. You were very successful. Great story. He's got a book called Never Shut Up Marcellus Wiley, The Life Opinions. There it is right.

there on the screen. Why did you choose the clippers? Why did you... You were an Ivy League, NFL, some would say overachiever, and you could have chosen any team to love in LA. And you chose the losing us one. Why? Let me finally get this out there. One,

I'm a contrarian by spirit, by nature. It served me well growing up to go against the crowd in a lot of different situations in my environment, the gangs, the stuff outside the house. I wanted to go to the different path, different way. My father is from Tyler, Texas, and he moved to San Diego. He's a San Diego Clippers fan.

I'm growing up in the house. Showtime is on. They're winning championships. I get it. But I'm indifferent, and my dad is a Clippers fan. So I'm not a Clippers fan at that time, but I'm certainly not a Lakers fan. I'm just indifferent. I'm playing Pop Warner. I'm in high school. I'm getting recruited. I'm doing my own thing. I'm not worried about what these professional athletes are doing. When I retired, and then I finally got into this fan love, and I finally got a chance to tailgate at a football game and finally get a bit. beer at a basketball game. I said, let me pick a team. And then I just went where my father's heart was and where we've grown up our entire lives, kind of rooting for us, silently for me,

but certainly it made him happy. And I just went to a Clippers game. Then they get Lob City and then, wow, it's a great time to be a Licker fan. Obviously, we didn't live up to our expectations fully, but I just kept rolling with him. And I love their story. I'm from Los Angeles Compton where a lot of people tell you, you're not going to make it. You're nothing. You know, you're discarded. that's the Clippers. I really attach myself to their identity of people sleeping on you and not giving you your proper respect and credit.

Then one day, they'll all smile. They'll all come aboard, and that's where we are right now. Yeah, I mean, anybody could be a Laker fan. Yeah, it's too easy. And it's weak. I hate their games. Like, no lie, when I had my chance to choose, I was looking at the Lakers because of their success,

they still were a good team. But going to the games and hearing the opera music and it's dark, it's just cell phones and who are you next to me? I just wanted to go somewhere where they're throwing t-shirts and hot dogs in the crowd and the owner's acting up. Oh, no, have you enjoyed it. Clipper games are totally different. Yeah, yeah. It's like, you know, it's a high school principal.

It's a sales guy. You go to a Laker game. You're sitting next to Ray Leota, you know, like CEOs. I saw him there one time. Yeah. I sat down, I looked over. I'm like, Ray Liotta is sitting next to me. Right.

It's a very different feel. Yeah, it's hard to feel the fan love experience. You know how big the brand is. is you know how great they are. But when you go to the games, you don't lose yourself in that atmosphere. The real fans are probably upstairs, you know, two, three hundred sections. Respect to them. But when you go down, it's just about, oh, so-and-so's here. It's a lot of selfies, man. I just want to go somewhere and act up. Between Wetlock, who likes all these Midwestern teams that can never win titles and you, you are the most down-to-earth, the most down-to-earth

sports show in America. Neidner one of you likes any traditional power. No, not at all. He hates all the powerful teams, almost resents them. And you don't resent them. It's just not your vibe. No, just don't spoon feed me success. Oh, they've been great. Okay, are they great to me? Is it a great atmosphere?

Do I like their culture? Do I like what they stand for? What do they define in terms of when I think of them? So for me, it's the Clippers. It's simple. And even if it doesn't work out, we don't get a championship this year or next year, still represent.

Man, it's Clip City, Chip City. Now they're going to go into a new arena. Are they going to lose some of their fans? Oh, game fans. Think about this. in 2024. 30 seconds. You go downtown and all there is is a 20-year-old arena

and it's the Lakers and Kings. Or you go to Englewood where the Rams, the Chargers. No kidding. And the Clippers are right now. It's the new mecca for L.A. It's the new mecca of sports. Closer to my house too. Selfishly.

The new L.A. stuff right around the corner from my house. Great seeing you, bud. You too, brother. Marcel Swati. Put that book up again. Let's give them a plug. If you haven't had it, never shut up. There it is.

Marcellus Wiley. And tomorrow, well, tomorrow's tomorrow. We'll worry about it then. It's third. 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. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice 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 Sports Slice 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, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. 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, 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 with 42. Hey, rec, my mama want you to wave at her. What?

Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. What's up, fam, it's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast, Point Game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season.

And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry. You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come up to you, he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs.

This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.